Expect the Unexpected
by Artemis615
Summary: Satoshi met a transfer student a few days earlier prior the new school terms. She is strangely naive, stupid, hated Risa, and very adorable. He would go as far as to worry when she's not with him, and he knew she liked him like no other girls. Satoshixoc
1. 1: Squabble Partner

A/N: Well, here it is! My first story for DNAngel! I've been dying to upload this weeks ago, and then, when I've done the 10th chapter, my bloody pendrive, in which I saved all of my documents, decided that it would want to reformat itself and wouldn't let me open it! Shit! I lost my documents to virus! To hell with viruses! Damn them!

Ahem...oh well, what's done is done, so, I've gotta rewrite them. Haha!

Enjoy. Oh, and tell me if you like them!

* * *

**1-Squabble Partner?**

"Akihiko Maia, I trust that you are well aware that working in a pub as a hostess is strictly forbidden at school?" said a cool looking, blue eyed and blue haired teenager of 17, staring down at a dark brown-haired girl with a troubled look on her face, now currently biting at her bottom lip nervously and eyes darting everywhere but the teenager in front of her, but as soon as he came to the part about 'hostess', her eyes bulged and immediately, flared up.

"Hey! I'm not working as a hostess in the pub! I knew everyone in the pub and everyone is kind to me! And how can you enter Pub Rose anyway? This pub is a privilege pub and only registered members are allowed-"

"First, because you are pretty and that they think you are a good catch. Second, is that I'm a member at any possible places that criminals are known to gather."

"I'm certainly not that stupid to fell into men's simple trap! You think I'm that cheap? Well, sorry pretty boy, I'm born here in Japan, but I live and grow up in France, and I knew how to differentiate good and bad, so back off or I'll rip your bird off the hook!"

Satoshi just stared at her, looking totally bored.

Seeing him unfazed by her earlier remarks, Maia sweat dropped and realized that the one she's speaking is definitely not in the 'annoying-people' category. "Sorry, my bad. It's just that words like this always keep the bad people off and you're not the bad people so…God! I don't know what I'm saying; all in all, I'm sorry if I offend you, but I'm not sorry at all for working as a part time singer, it's not a crime."

"You do realize that I told you to stay away from dark alleys?"

"Yes."

"And what did you did?"

"What did I do?"

Rolling his eyes, Satoshi turned her around by the shoulders. Maia felt as if that night alone she had done enough spinning by the shoulders. _God helps me_.

Making her look at what he was looking (by practically holding her by the shoulders and standing behind her to guide her face to look at where he is looking) "What do you suppose those are?"

"Err…trash can?"

"No. The other one."

"Lamppost?"

"The _other _one."

"I'm afraid that you'll scream at me if I tell you-"

"Just say it!"

"A cat?"

A cat that appeared out of nowhere walked daintily on its paws, looking briefly at both of them, yawned, and walks towards the trash.

"Tch! This is the dark alleys, Akihiko Maia!" Satoshi said, shaking her briefly by the shoulders. Seriously, no one, as in _no one_, had ever made him this angry and frustrated before, well, excluding Dark and Krad. "I told you-"

"You wrote."

"-to stay away from these! Did you not listen?"

"I swear, you wrote. You didn't tell me."

Rolling his eyes again, Satoshi said, "Whether by talking or writing, I _did_ inform you in a way or two, and _especially _you, to stay away from dark alleys and strangers, and what did you do? You walk right into their open arms happily!"

"No you didn't."

A moment of silence swooped on them. "Come again?"

"You only said that I am to bring my cell phone at all cost, and that applies to especially me. You didn't tell me that I am to avoid dark alleys, and by the way you talk about it, especially me too."

Sighing in defeat, Satoshi turned around and headed towards his Limo. Upon arriving at the car, he rolled his eyes and exclaimed without turning around.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Not realizing that Satoshi had long ago left her in the back alley of "Pub Rose", the wordings of the shop's name plat surrounded and curled by grape-vines, Maia broke out of her reverie and stared wide eyed at Satoshi.

Making an arrogant face, Maia said haughtily, "What do you think I am, three? I can go home by myself perfectly well."

Smirking, Satoshi replied in a sarcastic tone, "I'm afraid you'll just get lost yourself…"

Flaring up, Maia exclaimed loudly, "What makes you think that I'll get lost! I'm 17 and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"Really? It doesn't sound convincing to me…"

"Well, I don't need your approval to say what I want to say-"

"You're a _girl_, Maia, and now it's close to midnight. If you wanted to get rob or kidnapped it's your business-"

"Hey! Are you cursing me?"

"In a way or two, yes. So that means you have no other choice but to get on my car and let me send you home."

"Why you-"

"It's also due to the fact that you're new here in this town, and in this town, girls are smart enough to not walk alone without someone of the other gender to go along with them, and in this case, obviously, _you_ are not smart enough-"

"Hey!"

"-So if you happen to think that you're smart, do take up my offer to escort you home safely."

Trembling slightly in fury, Maia exclaimed loudly, " Fine! Since you offered it yourself, don't blame me if your car's petrol ran out because my house is a great deal farther than my working place."

"_My pleasure_." Said Satoshi sarcastically, rolling his eyes in utter disbelief. It's true that Maia is new in this town, and it also shocks him that she's not aware of her surroundings, and that included the surroundings of her neighborhood.

Sliding into the Limo gracefully, Maia takes the seat that is the farthest from Satoshi and leaned onto the side of the door, ready to escape the moment the car stopped. And it does, moments later, and by instinct, she flew out of the car and muttered a quick goodbye to Satoshi.

"Thank you for sending me home. You may go back now; I'll be totally safe here." Smiled Maia, hands knotted tightly together to stop herself from flying a punch to the _vile person,_ as Maia calls Satoshi, now sitting in the car cross legged with the door still open, smirking slightly.

"Yes, I know that." Bending slightly for his height, Satoshi step out from his Limo and closed the door of the car, signaling to the driver that he may go. With a nod, the driver speeds away in the Limo.

Gapping slightly, Maia comes back with an unbelievable and shocked reply, "I thought I said that you may go back now since I've arrived at home, _thanks to you, _and I don't remember inviting you in for tea!_"_

Currently straightening his coat that he wore for the meeting party his foster father requested him to wear, Satoshi paused for a while and continuing brushing off imaginary dirt and dust on his sleeve. "Oh, don't be mistaken. I'm not here for a cup of tea, I would have made it myself if I want one."

Eyes bulging in a comical way, Maia retorted, "Then! Why are you still here!"

"Don't shout. It's near midnight and the neighborhood is sleeping." Hushed Satoshi, now walking towards the apartment next to Maia's own apartment, well, the other _half_.

Maia watched as Satoshi fished out a silver object and proceeded to use it on the doorknob on the other half apartment. Thinking that he is trying to break an entry to her neighbor's apartment, Maia quickly fished out her mobile phone and dialed a three digit number, but before she could do it, Satoshi had turned around and, feeling curiosity built in him, he blurted out what he was thinking.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling the police, you nut head, what else would I do when I see someone breaking an entry right in front of me?"

"I see no one breaking an entry- Wait, are you saying that 'someone' is me?"

"Who else?"

Eyes rolling, Satoshi said, "Seriously, you think that I, the Supreme Commander of the Police Force, am trying to break into an entry with a key?"

"I doubt that's your 'key' to what's inside my neighbor's house." (Since it was near midnight, and it's dark, and Maia herself is already quite sleepy, she only glimpsed a 'silver object' and immediately went into the conclusion that it's a silver pin that is used so often by burglars to break into an entry, like she had seen in most movies.)

Sighing loudly in frustration, Satoshi walked up to Maia (Which made her pause in her 'little antics [Dialing the three digit number. You might be wondering why she would take that long to dial a simple three digit number, but the truth is that she's a little sleep-dazed and her mind is close to shutting down, and she's trying very hard to concentrate on the three digit number but kept missing and pressing the wrong key.]**'**), snatched away her mobile phone (despite her protesting), grabbing her shoulder none-too-gently and showed her the silver object currently dangling from his finger in front of her eyes.

"Look at this properly Akihiko Maia, this is a _key_, a _silver key _to be exact, and this _key _belongs to me."

Staring at the key for a while, she touched the key and felt it, making sure that it really is a key. He noticed that Maia's expression is close to a sleepy daze and the next thing she does make Satoshi realize something; when Akihiko Maia is sleepy or close to sleeping, all logic is thrown out of the window and pigs starts to fly and lions turn vegetarian.

"You stole this from my neighbor! No wonder my neighbor hasn't been home for the last 2 days-"

"I left the town for 2 days and here I am with a wacky madcap. Welcome to the neighborhood, Hiwatari Satoshi." Satoshi said sarcastically. Tired and desperately need a shower and rest, Satoshi starts to do things that the normal Satoshi won't do; he ruffled his hair in frustration. (A/N: Imagine that people, imagine that.)

Sighing loudly in frustration, Satoshi said, "Since when did you talk to your neighbor?"

Cupping her own cheek, Maia sank into a sea of thoughts and think, eyes drooping slightly. "Actually, I have no idea, maybe I forgot it, but still, I'm sure that you steal it from somewhere else."

Rolling his eyes again, Satoshi said, now a frown is starting to show between his eyebrows. "Really? Prove it then."

"Alrighty then! First things first, let me try this key and see whether it really _is _my neighbor's key."

"By all means, go ahead, and do it quick."

Maia, slightly staggering, managed to climb up the stairs to the apartment next to hers. Focusing on the keyhole, Maia inserted the key that she now holds, or so she thought.

"Akihiko Maia, that's not the keyhole."

"What?"

"That's not the keyhole; in fact, you're not even close to the keyhole."

"How do you know that's not the keyhole?"

Right at this moment, Satoshi was moving forward and planned to help her with the keyhole. Because he's taller than Maia, and with both of them practically looming over the doorknob blocking any light from touching the doorknob, he cannot see where the keyhole is, so he bended down slightly and here comes the trouble;

Maia turned her head around to look at him. She knew that Satoshi is taller than her so she lifted her head and expecting to look at his face.

And certainly, she's not expecting her lips to come into contact with his.

And the time practically stopped. Both stared into each other's eyes, completely taken aback by the sudden contact and completely aware of each other's warm lips pressing together lightly.

Both drew back at the exact same time, both blinked eyes at the exact same time, both parties' hand slowly touch their lips stupidly at the same time. Maia's the first one that broke into a completely fanatical conclusion.

"This thing is not happening to me. This is so not me. This is not happening. It's impossible. I bet this whole thing is a dream and when I woke up, everything will be fine. It's just a dream Akihiko Maia, don't worry, when you wake up, it'll be fine." Muttered Maia, slowly backing away from the apartment beside her house and marched to her own apartment. Before she close the door of her apartment, she waved back to Satoshi, smiling like an idiot, "Goodbye, the Hiwatari Satoshi in my dream, I trust that we won't meet again," and close the door, leaving behind a baffled Satoshi standing right in front of his own apartment.

Satoshi opened his own apartment with his key (Maia had placed the key back into Satoshi's hand in a daze), closed and locked the door, walk straight into his bedroom and crashed upon his bed, too tired to think and too tired to change, which is what happen to Maia right at this very moment.

"This is my worst day ever…" mumbled Satoshi before he fell into a deep slumber, unbeknown to him, Maia too, mumbled the same word.

* * *

_**The Next Day…**_

The alarm clock blared loudly on the bed table near the single bed placed near the walls. The lump of crumpled bed sheet and bedspread dangled dangerously close to the edge of the bed, and right after the alarm clock screamed 7a.m in the morning, the lump jumped 2 inch off the bed and tumbled off onto the white Goff Rug placed underneath the single bed. The lump, now on the rug, unsurprisingly, moaned in pain and grumbled.

Akihiko Maia, now officially 17(well, not really, since her 17th birthday has yet to come), lived in a superb apartment that her brother had bought it online for her. The apartment is 2 floored (or double floored, or whatever it is called), top to toe in white excluding the blue door and blue window frames and dark blue roof and there's no gate. Yes, an apartment with no front gates but a backyard gate is present hidden at the back of the apartment, while the front side of the apartment is lined with boxwood hedges and a line of lavender underneath the boxwood hedges. Blue, is practically Akihiko Maia's favorite color, so it's not surprising if she would spend the rest of the day in a blue shop, well, _if_.

Now, on to her bedroom. Ignore the lump on the rug; we'll come to explain Akihiko Maia later, and for now, her sleeping chamber.

The headboard for the single bed (it's not really single, in fact, it's close to Queen sized bed, but she liked to call her bed 'single'.) is a deep rich brown color, while the other parts of the bed are ivory white. For the bedspread and the bed sheets, both of it is forest green with abstract floral designs prints. The interior of Akihiko Maia's bedchamber, well, one would practically go into a shock once they have a glimpse of what she 'hangs' all around the walls, and I mean _all around the walls._

The walls are covered in crystal beads, all ends with a bell on the bottom, the length of these curtain of beads ranged from the entire length of the wall to the short space of walls left from the ceiling to the wardrobe. The beads, which are in green and blue and deep aqua color, covered the original color of the walls, which is white. (Akihiko Maia is a freak on curtain beads)

Then, here comes the hard-to-explain parts. Her sleeping room is the only room in her apartment that is practically 'separated' into two 'floors', the bed, bathroom and closets are on the upstairs, and the study table part downstairs. There's a rack of books near the study table, and a computer on it. That's all. Oh, and there's a sliding door that leads straight to the balcony overseeing the brick roads, one that she shared with her neighbor. Now, on to the next room. Next to Maia's sleeping room is the living room, where one is greeted with the sight of a few red sofas scattered around the room when one first entered to Maia's apartment. There's a plasma TV placed on the wall and a few stereos installed around this room. A large white fur rug (obviously man-made instead of the real fur rug) is placed in the middle between the plasma TV and the red sofa, and in the middle of the rug sat a wooden coffee table. On the right hand side of the plasma TV wall, well, no longer a wall, for there's a huge rack covering the walls (excluding a few windows). Within each rack is an assortment of CD collections, ranging from instrumental, English bands, Japanese bands and, of course, movies. There is a wide space for various activities behind the red sofas and one of the activities that Maia always does when she's free is-

Ah! The lump finally moved.

Still clutching the blanket, Maia dazedly trudged towards the bathroom. Turning on the shower full blast, Maia's eyes instantly snapped open and, now fully awake, begun to perform her daily rituals; brushing her teeth, clean her face, shower, mess up her hair a little, totally ignoring the make-up lying pitifully inside the drawer of her bathroom counter and, finally, now fully awake, she marched out of her bathroom stark naked with her towel in one hand and the other brushing her hair. This is what she does every day, when she was alone in her apartment of course.

After dressing up (trying her hardest not to glare holes into her new uniform and tugging at the scanty-looking skirt), Maia gave a last look at her apartment, making sure that everything was in place; such as the windows are locked and that she remembered to bring everything required to her new school as it was her first day at it and had wanted to leave a good impression in everyone's eyes, keys in one hand, she strode off towards the door, close it, lock it, and turn around gracefully to hop down the stairs.

Only to come face to face with the 'vile person' from yesterday's 'dream'.

And he wore the exact same uniform she's wearing; only it's a boy's version, with trousers and blazers instead of skirts.

She did what she's best at doing. Blinking her eyes, she blurted out, "Good morning…? Why are you here?"

Previously smirking, now rolling his eyes in utter disbelief, Satoshi said, "This is going nowhere, Akihiko Maia. Don't you look around your surroundings before you actually settled down? Don't you ever talk to your neighbors before? And good morning to you too."

Gently pushing him aside, Maia takes a deep breath of fresh air (and a strangely intoxicating scent that possibly came from the vile person's direction), she hopped down the stair in a strangely comical yet cute way; her daily ritual. Turning around, Maia replied him and explaining to him in an amusing way; she flings her hand around animatedly.

"It's not like I've never tried to talk to them, it's that they're always not home, and I've only been here for a few days at the most. Not to add that I actually had soo may places to go and soo many foods to try here and decorate my apartment…"

Noticing that the 'vile person' is all quiet, she opened her eyes (she was explaining with her eyes closed, a bad habit of hers) and noticed that he was rubbing his forehead.

"What? You got yourself a headache?"

Satoshi sighed. "No, more like frustrations over how impossibly dense and gullible one can be-"

"You mean, like me?" eyes widened and head tilted in such ways that she's seeing Satoshi vertically; Maia tried her best to imitate an innocent and 'cute' look.

"Not like you…"

"Oh, that's good…"

"It's _definitely_ you."

The nearby seagulls squawked.

Maia pushed up her uniform's sleeves a little, hands clenched in a fist, "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I'm merely stating the obvious facts."

"Well, if you have something to say to me, why don't you just tell it to my face and stop doing those tongue twisting and brain-stressing stuff, smarty?"

"Alright then," taking a deep breath, Satoshi walked towards Maia and said in a rather loud voice, "I really can't believe that someone as dense and impossible like you existed on God's green Earth!"

This time, no squawking seagulls, but a group of elderly people that appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh my…"

"Couples…argue…"

"Boy, you shouldn't raise your voice like that to a girl…"

"That's terrible of you…"

"Youngsters these days…*sigh*…"

"We were more peaceful in the old days…"

"Then Tanaka that fellow…blah blah blah…"

The elderly group left, leaving a baffled Satoshi in front of Maia's apartment, and Maia, looking ever so innocent and naïve.

Nudging Satoshi at the ribs and wriggled one eyebrow at him, Maia said in an I-told-you-so tone, "Ya heard that? Boys shouldn't raise their voice like that towards a girl."

Satoshi merely glared at her, which surprisingly, had no effect on her whatsoever.

**INDEX  
**Pub Rose-Rose-Beauty, Grape-vines-Intoxication  
Cursing-Some people believe that it's a taboo to talk about accidents or kidnapping or robbing or bad accidents, especially the Chinese, for they believe that it will happen if one say it out loud to the person that doesn't want to get into bad accidents.


	2. 2: 3 Days Earlier

**2-3 Days Earlier…**

"Flight A300 has arrived at Azumano-Chou region 10 minutes ahead of schedule safely. Passengers, please remain in your seat and keep any electronic devices safely turned off until we arrived in the airport. Thank you for flying with Japanese Airlines System. Please fly with us again. Thank you for your cooperation."

The flight attendants, right after finishing her well rehearsed speech, begun to get the exit door open for the First Class VIP passengers to leave first. Everyone in the First Class lounge room is surprisingly calm and collected, and is in no rush to pack their belongings; namely the latest laptops and expensive handbags, while the others in the Economic class rushed to take their belongings from any available spots that they had crammed their luggage's in, most popular of them all is under the seat.

The First Class seats passengers came down of the plane in smooth and experienced movements, all but one.

"I. Hate. Flights." said one girl, stumbling while trying to get a hold of herself.

Maia had always resided in Japan when she was younger, and had the knack of avoiding any family travels with her cousins for she hates long travels. One loving brother and several close cousins and uncles, no parents since the age of 12. Her brother had asked her which school she would want to enroll in for her senior high school year, and he had greatly expected her to enroll in Seiso Academy, where he would be taking the seats as the new Director of the school. Instead, she had flatly refused his offer, and had shown him the website to a "fabulous!" school in Azumano-Chou. What can he do but to agree to his one and only sister?

"Are you alright, young lady?" said a kind woman in her mid 30-ies. Every inch of her screamed elegance and rich, and she handed to Maia a scented wet tissue, which Maia gladly accepted.

"Thank you, but I guess I'm just a little shaken from sitting too long in the flight cabin." Maia replied politely, wiping the wet tissue around her face and immediately freshen up a little. That's not true, for she had fallen asleep the whole time she's flying, and all the landing had shaken her a little, that explains the wobble.

The lady chuckled at her antics. "I've already guessed so. My first time ends like that too. Just a little wet tissue and a good snack will bring you back up in no time. How about it?"

Maia barely registered the fact that the lady, whom she had met only seconds ago, had invited her for a snack before the lady begun to tug her along towards the entrance of the airport. "Err…no thank you-"

"Are you in a hurry?" the lady intervened before Maia could say another word.

Sweat dropping, Maia said truthfully, "No, I'm not-"

"Then don't be shy. Obaa-san will get you good snacks in Azumano-chou. Kenji, get the car."

Out of nowhere, a short old man dressed neatly in butler-styled attire, carrying several shopping bags in his hand, replied to the lady, "Yes, mistress."

"YOU'RE A MISTRESS!" Maia exclaimed in sheer shock upon hearing what the butler has replied to her.

Time froze. The airport stopped operating for a moment.

Chuckling in amusement, the lady said, "Silly girl, Kenji calls me 'mistress' not because I have an affair with someone. It's just a title."

Realizing that she was being very rude towards the lady, Maia apologized. "I'm sorry. I- err- tend to get into shock lots of time back in my hometown."

Laughing out loud, the lady smiled at her, "Haha! I can see that."

Once they're in the car (the lady practically pulled Maia into the car and slammed the door shut), the lady continue to fire questions at Maia. "Now, tell me something would you, young lady?"

"Anything," said Maia, accepting a glass of what appeared to be a juice. (They're in a limousine, and there are drinks ready for them)

Expression all serious, the lady asked, "Are you a virgin?"

Maia spluttered out the drink that she had gulped down and coughed violently.

Hitting her back, the lady laughed out loud at her reaction. "Haha! Just joking! I meant to ask about your name and why are you doing here in this old region. Haha! Such an amusing young lady!"

Once her coughing had settled down, Maia bowed slightly towards the old lady and said, "I'm Akihiko Maia, and I came here to enroll in my first senior year in Azumano High."

"Oh? I see, a new student. In fact, I happened to know one boy around your age that goes to that school too, and he turns out to be the best. I'm Futaba Kiku, you may call me Kiku Obaa-chan. Say, do you have a place to stay?"

"I have. In fact, my brother took the privilege to bought one apartment for me online."

"Oh, how sweet."

"But that apartment is way too big for me, but since it's near the school, I guess I'll have to endure it."

For a moment, no sound came from the lady. When Maia glanced over her, she saw a look of admiration and a soft smile grazed the lady's expression. Noticing Maia looking at her, the lady said, "You know what? Come and visit me when you're free. I'd like to have someone to talk to, someone as charming and young as you. I used to have a granddaughter-"

"Granddaughter?"

"Yeah, I'm well over my 50-ies and it's only normal I get a granddaughter from one of my sons."

"You're over 50-ies!"

"Well, how old did you think I was? Mid 30-ies?"

"That's exactly what I thought."

"My, did I look that young? Oh my, I'm so thrilled!"

Just then, they arrived right outside (A/N: and I mean right outside) a café, which had wonderful smelling cakes and pastries and beautiful antique-looking chairs. The place was made to look ancient-like and it completely pulled off the looks that this is a magnificent café, for the other shops looks modern enough to look plain and boring. Immediately, Maia fell in love with it.

"This is wonderful!" said Maia after her fifth cake, this time is black forest chiffon cake with fresh cherries. Smooth cream, cake that seemed to melt in your mouth and cherries fresh from the market, it really was a wonderful treat, for Maia.

Kiku loved anyone that is not overly concern about their eating behavior; in fact, she loves those that enjoy a slice of cake heartily instead of worrying about how much calories there are in one single mouthful of cake. "Really! Then let's order another slice shall we?"

"KYAAA! IT'S HIWATARI-KUN!" a loud girlish voice screamed in the peaceful café. Turning around to give a glare to whomever the biatch is doing, Maia saw, to her amazement and utter annoyance, a swarm of girls swarming a small table. Deciding that the rest of this day is going to be a peaceful one, Maia silently and secretly raised her leg and let the waiter currently delivering her cake trip, sending the slice of mud chocolate (which melt in your mouth when you eat it) flying in the air, coming to a land in the middle of the noisy crowd of girls. All of them squeaked and, (Maia: "For Pete's sake!") ran out of the café immediately, all appearing to have a deep red blush on their face.

Now that she had successfully chased away the group of annoying girls, (Maia: "And lose my precious slice of cake…") Maia now saw a blue-haired guy with spectacles sitting beside the large glass window, the tell tale mud chocolate lying in the middle of the table side by side (A/N: And I mean side by side) on what appeared to be Blueberry cheesecake.

"My! It's Satoshi-kun!" a voice exclaimed beside her. Maia widened her eyes in shock.

The blue-haired guy turned his attention from the two slices of perfectly placed cake that appeared out of nowhere towards the madam sitting beside Maia. _Wow! Blue eyes!_ Maia thought. She had never seen eyes so blue and clear, and almost set to stare at them until he spoke, waking her from her reverie.

"Hello, Futaba-san. What a coincident to meet you here." He said politely turning his attention to the table beside his, which is where Maia and Kiku sit. He appeared to look a little surprised over the 4 empty plates currently piling up beside Maia.

"Yes, it's a coincident, and it's a great one at that. Here, let me introduce to you my new granddaughter-"

"Kiku Obaa-chan! I'm not your granddaughter-" Maia intervened before she could go on, but she was ignored as if she never said anything.

"-Akihiko Maia-Chan, whom I just met at the airport today. Oh, and I notice that you are free right now? Please, have the privilege on taking her to tour around this region, she's new here. Oh, and she's going to your school this year as a new student! What a coincident isn't it?"

Maia had muttered something audible about "so he's the best?", but Satoshi merely ignored her and said, "Yes, indeed it is."

Finally, after ignoring her for a series of chit-chatting with this- supposedly 'the best' called Satoshi, Kiku turned to Maia, "Well? What are you waiting for? Go along with Satoshi-kun, he'll take you to tour along this place."

Maia looked innocently from Satoshi to Kiku, Kiku to Satoshi, then back to Kiku again, "He's not working part time as a tour guide is he?"

Both of them sweat dropped. "No, of course not. But he knows this place better than anyone I've ever known."

Again, Maia looked innocently at Satoshi, who stared back at her. "So basically, he's a portable, walking-talking, breathing, living map of Azumano-Chou?"

"In simpler wordings, you will never get lost with me around." Shockingly, that's what Satoshi said to Maia. Both of them stared at each other, both wondering why each of them acts so strange, and is oblivious with the staring that the fellow waiter, waitress and Kiku gave them.

"Oh my, you two look like lovers!" Kiku cried out, shocking both of them out from their staring and unintentionally brought a wave of blush to them.

"That's not true!" both of them chorused together. Both looked at each other, noticing the blush on each other's face. Both turned away from each other at the same time.

"Alright then, hop along! Much to see in a region this small." Kiku said to the both of them, still refusing to look at each other.

"Goodbye then, Kiku Obaa-chan." Said Maia, holding onto her casual sling bag, preparing to stumble out of the café, which she had secretly made a mental note to come back here whenever she has extra free time.

"Good day." Satoshi gave a slight nod towards Kiku, who gave him a nod of approval in return.

"Have fun!" Kiku managed to get a wave back as a reply that they've heard her. Smiling, Kiku called for her bill. While she is pulling out bill notes from her bag, Kiku said to the waiter, who is staring at Satoshi and Maia walking along Azumano-Chou side by side, "Mark my words, those two will be lovers soon enough."

"It won't be surprising." The waiter replied her. Looks like Café Bluebottle would be expecting both of them a lot this year.

* * *

Afterwards, Satoshi toured Maia around Azumano-Chou, the place that still has traces of ancient carvings and buildings that is perfectly well preserved. Azumano-Chou's population is small, and of course, that applies to the number of students enrolling in Azumano High.

"Could I ask a question, Akihiko-san?" said Satoshi suddenly. Maia paused in the process of licking yogurt ice-cream that she has just bought for the both of them, tongue sticking out comically.

"Maia would be nice, and yes, you may."

"Why would you choose to study here instead of in your hometown?"

Maia pondered for a while before answering his question. Smiling, Maia looks around the place, "Because I fell in love."

Satoshi blinked. "Come again?"

Maia knew he heard it, and probably think that her love interest is a human. Chuckling, Maia said, "I fell in love with this place by a glance. There's something enchanting about this place, something that made me feel so alive and relaxing at the same time, as if magic is in the air…"

Just then, they passed by a shop that called 'Love Is in the Air', and Satoshi was like 'are you affected by this shop?' Maia looked at him, then at the shop's signboard, then back at him, "Definitely magic in the air, not love."

Satoshi brought her to the famous sunset view in Azumano-Chou, the round fountain which is near the cliff. The scenery is breathtaking, and the wind is lovely, but one thing made Maia frown.

Lovers and couples are everywhere, and they're cuddling together in a rather gross manner, some of them even took the privilege to fully make out in public.

Maia looked over at Satoshi, frowning, and then look back at the crowd of lovers, frowning, then said childishly, "I'm going home." And strode off.

"Do you even know where you live?" Satoshi called out to her, which made her stop on her tracks and pulled out a piece of paper from her casual sling bag. Turning around, she gave Satoshi the piece of paper. "Please bring me to this place."

Satoshi was a little surprised when he read the address to what appeared to be Maia's apartment, for it was very very familiar. Sighing inwardly, Satoshi prepared what he wanted to say to Maia, only to see that she's no longer standing where she was a second ago. Looking around, he spotted a figure towering over Maia, who was looking back at him innocently.

"You're a high school student right? Are you alone? 10000 yen for one night, is it okay?" A working man said to her, offering to her a pathetic one night stand, which she understood immediately the moment he approached her, but he didn't expect her to understand him since she looked so innocent.

"You're pathetic, what do you think I am?"

"Not enough? 15000 yen then."

"You're a disgrace."

"20000 yen."

"You're insulting me."

"21000 yen."

"Don't lay a finger on her!" Satoshi said loudly, drawing the attention of nearby couples to witness the soon-to-be quarrel.

"That's none of your business, little boy!" retorted the man, who was thinking that he was close to persuading Maia to be his companion for the night.

"This is not a place for you to freely practice what you're doing, and it is a crime to bed underage."

"Who are you to lecture me, huh boy! I can bed anyone I like, and I'll bed any girl I want! I have money; they'll come for me eventually!"

Knowing that this argument will go nowhere, Satoshi declared, "She is my girlfriend."

Gasp of shock rippled around those who watch the trio. Some of the girls watching were looking enviously at Maia, whom the blue-haired hottie claimed to be her boyfriend and protecting her from perverts.

"So what? Girlfriend? She'll dump you for 30000 yen, right sugar?" said the man, looking and winking at Maia. Surprisingly, there's no reaction from her.

"Money cannot buy you everything, and I daresay you've insulted me far enough."

Maia pulled Satoshi out of the way as a spray of cold drain water sprayed the man, who let out a string of curses and insults to whomever that threw the water, then paused when he saw who it is.

"M-Mother, why are you here?" the man stammered, inwardly shivered by the sheer presence of his mother, who seethed in anger as he heard about what he had said to the two lovely couple (Maia and Satoshi).

"Shame on you! You have a loving wife and yet, you're here, _bedding _underage girls and other people's lover on top of that! It's a good thing you're not arrested by Supreme Commander Hiwatari!" the old woman said, spraying spit of anger all over the man's face, who cringed every time the old woman shrieks in her high pitched tone and getting extremely red at the ears after the old woman pulled them several times.

"Supreme Commander…Hiwatari?" Maia mumbled to herself. Satoshi heard what she had said and whispered quietly to her, "That would be me." Maia's head immediately snapped up and stared at him innocently. _Great, I'm getting used to that look_, thought Satoshi.

"Come, I'll take you home." Said Satoshi, pulling her hand gently towards the other end of the fountain, determined to get her home.

The walk goes on without a single word, and Satoshi's hand still maintained a firm yet gentle grip on her wrist. Anger was bubbling and seething in his heart and no sooner, he erupted.

"Seriously, I'm not even leaving you alone there and you've already got yourself a bastard trying to buy you off! Why didn't you think of screaming and running!" Satoshi scolded Maia.

Frowning in disapproval, Maia protested his suggestion, "Hell no, I'm not going to damage my voice by screaming, and my legs are tired, I can't run."

"Then run to me! I was just standing there…"

"I was getting to that part…"

Sighing in frustration, Satoshi said to her, "I don't understand you, you don't even look shaken!"

Grinning, Maia said, "I'm one of a kind."

"Yeah, a one of a kind retard…"

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's get you home."

Once again, Satoshi pulled her along, not letting her wandering around without his hand around her wrist. Hell, he was standing right in front of her, and yet she had wandered around just when he was reading her home address and trouble swooped upon her like a hawk. His only option left is to hold on to her, that'll make sure that she's within his reach in case trouble came again.

Before long, they arrived at Maia's said apartment, which was really half a house. The house was divided into half, and half of it belonged to her neighbor, whom she had yet to meet. Rather then letting her dive into the comfort of her home, Satoshi gave her a list of errands to run beforehand.

"Take a shower, and make yourself a drink, then listen to soothing music-"

"The first two I can handle, but I don't have soothing music…"

Patting his pocket, Satoshi fished out his iPod player, which, gratefully, contained soothing music. Silently grateful for the fact that he remembered to charge it full yesterday, he handed it to her.

"Listen to this until you fall asleep, that'll calm you down."

Maia's hand instinctively reached out for the offered iPod, only to realize that her hand was shaking. She frowned. She hated to admit that she's shaken and scared, because that's the first thing she laughed when she watch movies in which the girls in the movie are in the same situation as she is.

Knowing somehow that she's not capable of doing all those, he stepped into her home despite her insistence that she's fine. Those that said they're fine are not entirely fine, especially one that experience such turmoil on their first day in somewhere foreign.

He fixed her a glass of milk while she took a warm bath, and by the time she came out, she looked as if all the blood has been drained from her, and she shivered violently. Pulling her into his lap as gently as he could, Satoshi carefully brought the warm milk to her lips, which she sipped onto slowly.

Satoshi had taken the liberty to put the earplug into both of her ears, which slowly calmed her down from her shock. Satoshi had learned that shock victim tends to feel at ease and calmed down around human warmth, and he provided her that warmth by letting her strangely frozen fingers wrap around his neck. She soon fell asleep on his lap.

He had certainly didn't expect he'd end up in a girls home, and on top of that she's just someone he met for no longer than 24 hours, and here he was, holding her while she slept. Then something struck him.

Today is the day that Dark is going to steal the statue of Amaranth the Immortal at 8p.m, and it's almost 7p.m now. _Shit, I got to prepare…_

Carefully, he picks her up and placed her in her bed. He wrote a list of errands for her to do, and since there are still 3 more days before school reopen, she'll be able to take her time to settle down. It was then he noticed the expression she wore when she's sleeping. It was so different from when she was awake. Her long lashes covered her eyes, at the edge of her pouty lips was a little curve and her dark brown hair matched her porcelain white skin. Maia was smiling in her dream. He had nearly branded her a permanent retard for smiling after such things happened to her when he noticed his iPod; the song is now playing A Postcard to Henry Purcell_. So, she likes that song,_ thought Satoshi.

After making sure every window and doors are locked securely, he walked towards the front door. Stealing a last glance from the smiling girl currently sleeping peacefully, he allowed himself a smile to graze his face before leaving for work. _There's Dark to catch tonight_.


	3. 3: 2 Days Earlier

**3-2 Days Earlier… **

After a good warm shower in the morning, realizing that she is alone and that the blue-haired smarty is nowhere to be seen, dress up, and tidying her bedroom for a bit, Maia finally noticed the note that Satoshi had left behind for her on the dining table.

Maia,

Make sure you do this;

1. Drink a glass of milk  
2. Take a shower  
3. Forget what happened yesterday  
4. Go out and take a walk.  
5.** MAKE SURE TO AVOID DARK ALLEYS AND STRANGE LOOKING MEN**  
6. Anything happens, call this number, xxx-xxxxxxx, or this, xxx-xxxxxx, just say 'I'm Satoshi's girlfriend' and they'll help you (I've already inform them about you)  
7. On the first sign of danger, RUN.  
8. Eat properly.  
9. Remember to bring your cell phone (They're vital for **YOUR** survival)  
10. Have fun.

_Hiwatari Satoshi._

By the time Maia came to the 5th instruction, the paper had begun to crumble under her tight grip. Seething in anger, Maia muttered, "What am I, three!" But nonetheless, she done all of the errands in the list, lest that blue-haired smartie chastise her for her inability to read (which is really just an insult). She vividly remember he did it a number of times when he was taking her for a tour around Azumano-Chou. She sat down on her sofa and made herself comfortable, awaiting for his arrival, expecting him to ring the bell on her front door anytime. Strangely, he never came. Deciding that it's better to spend time on more useful things rather than wasting them on the best smartass on Azumano-Chou, Maia set out to look for a proper part-time job; which is her goal to becoming independent.

* * *

The day passed with a series of begging and bawling from Maia, who, despite her outward appearance; pretty, smart and polite, failed to get herself a part-time job. The sole reason why most people won't hire her is because she's too pretty (delinquents had followed her into her soon-to-be-part-time-job-shop and accidentally caused a mess), and she cannot stand still in one place for more than 5 minutes (as far as she know, all of her family members cannot handle that too, and most of the stores managers wanted her to stand still because she looks prettier when she's not moving) and nagging customers (Maia practically exploded when the customer won't let her speak about her opinion). And here she was, wandering in the night, promising and swear on her soul that she's gonna get herself a part-time job this very day. While pondering this issue, she had ran into a signboard set outside a pub known as Pub Rose, and stumbled, rolled, and came to a stop right in front of a pair of 6 inch black stilettos, and one decorated with shiny black beads.

"Oh my, are you okay?" said a voice high above her. _Wow, these toe nails are manicured!_

Realizing that she's staring at people's leg, Maia straightened herself and said, "Oh, I'm fine. I just tripped over a signboard while pondering where else could I get a part-time job around here."

"I see. Well, I must say, your pondering would cost you something." Said the lady. Now that Maia has rid herself off any dust and particles from her clothing, an extremely bright light and flashes and fake white flowers decorated behind the lady as a background (In reality it was actually part-timers carrying bundles of white roses from their van into the pub and there's a car passing by and it's headlight shined upon the lady). The lady was very very beautiful. Dressed from top to toe in black, excluding her white fur mink, she looks so lovely with the white roses as background.

Consciousness kicked in when she noticed that the lady was talking to her. "Pardon?"

Smiling, the lady waved her silver tobacco pipe at the object Maia is standing upon. "You're stepping on my sign board requesting a new singer."

Stepping aside quickly, Maia apologized. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I was in a daze and all and-" finally noticing the 'Vacancy for Talented Singers" on the signboard, "-you're hiring a singer!"

Blinking, the lady answered, "Why yes. My singer found herself a man yesterday and she had officially resigned from this place to get married next month, and now I had to find myself a new singer-"

"I'll be your singer!" Maia intervened.

Eyebrows raised in question, the lady said, "What did you say?"

Taking a deep breath, Maia repeated, and explained, "I mean, *sigh*, I've walked this city around and around searching for a part-time job, and I'm really tired and I've made a decision today that I won't go home until I found myself a job. Please, I can assure you that my voice is not all bad. Let me fill the vacancy!"

Contemplate over whether hiring a worker this young is a good idea, the lady begun to properly look at Maia. _Hmm, dark long wavy hair, big innocent dark eyes and long lashes, pale skin, gorgeous lips and hips, nice_ _boobs, and most important of them all, she's fairly pretty, coming to beautiful. Such rarity, how lucky!_ The lady inwardly chuckled.

Smiling, the lady said to Maia, "Well, if you're really good, why don't you sing a song for us?"

"Sure!" Maia said, rejoicing that the lady is willing to give her a chance. The lady lead Maia to a small elegant stage complete with red heavy curtains. Spotlights immediately shined upon her when she step up to the stage, making her a tad bit nervous.

"Go on, dear, sing a song for us." Said the lady, now standing in front of the stage, observing her.

"Any song?" Maia repeated innocently.

"Any song." The lady confirmed, smiling to assure her that everything is alright.

Maia trudged towards the musician, who just come up to the stage, and whispered a song into their ear. They looked a little surprised, but they agree later on.

The lady was just as surprised herself when she heard the musician started to play the song. "Smile Till The End huh?"

"It's rare to hear someone brave enough to sing that song…" said the barman to the lady, admiring the girl currently on stage.

"That song's a hard one, for if there's not enough emotions in it the whole song would turn into a nightmare." The lady explained, smiling to the girl. _See if you're good enough._

_The wind is shaking the windows, and over my small room,  
the stars fill up the sky, shining brightly too many to count,  
the stars reassure tired me  
they wipe away the many tears that are deep inside me_

_Don't be hurt too much...They hug me tight and pamper me  
and comfort me,  
telling me to go to sleep_

_though I'm exhausted to the point where I can't walk  
though my tears blur my vision  
I'll still smile in front of my love that I'm not able to get_

_Even though our happy times were short, I'll treasure it deep inside my heart  
like those countless number of stars, forever_

_My dream is coming. Though it is unusual that my one star is bright  
it is very bright, even blinding...it comes down to my shoulder  
stop being so sad...it holds my hand as it touches me  
and gives me a warm hug_

_though I'm exhausted to the point where I can't walk through my tears blur my vision  
I'll still smile in front of my love that I'm not able to get_

_Even though our happy times were short, I'll treasure it deep inside my heart_  
_like those countless number of stars, forever_

_Only for today, I won't cry though my eyes fill with tears  
I want to laugh like those stars  
Oh~ I want to cherish all my happy moments deep inside my heart_

_Like those countless number of stars, forever_

As soon as the last note ends, everyone in the pub gave her a round of loud and enthusiastic applause. Some even whistled, showing her how great she was. The only thing Maia does is smile and a lot of blushing and expresses her thanks by bowing to the people under the stage.

"Well, you've proven yourself worthy for the vacancy. Welcome to Pub Rose, the pub that's intoxicated with beauty," said the lady, flashing a wide smile at Maia.

However so, Maia didn't move an inch. She just stood there and smile awkwardly, flushing from the attention that she received.

"What's your name?" the lady asked kindly.

"Akihiko Maia des," Maia replied her.

"I am known as Wild Daisy here. You may call me Miss Daisy, and I'll introduce the rest of the people to you later on. Please come down from the stage, Maia-chan."

"I can't"

Everyone raise their eyebrows.

"I think I'm frozen…"

Most of them chuckled or let out a bark of laughter. Maia had dared to go up on stage but is afraid of coming down.

"Now then darling, we shall give you a nickname here." Said Daisy, after she succeeds in coaxing Maia to come down from the stage. Everyone, including the barman and the musician, is introduced to her, and all of them are very kind to her.

"Nickname?" Maia repeated innocently.

"Hmm…Let's see." Daisy said, thinking for a while. "Okay, from now on, you'll be Sweet Violet, for your modesty."

Staring, then smiling, then blush a little, Maia exclaimed, "Thank you!"

Maia was just going to get out of the pub when Daisy stopped her, "Oh, Violet-Chan! Our business start at 8.p.m until 2a.m, but for you young lady, you'll leave right after 11p.m, but come before 7.30p.m to prepare okay?"

"Okay! Thanks Miss Daisy! See you tomorrow!"

Once arriving at her apartment (she had really considered to knock on her neighbor's house to say hello, but the lights are not turned on, and there's no sound in there too, so she got back to her apartment), she fixed herself a big bowl of salad (with lots of fruits and mayo) and plopped down onto the red sofa, turning on the plasma television on the wall and switched it to the news channel.

"-time being. Dark, or widely and popularly known as the Phantom Thief Dark is currently in the building where the Tears of Nightingale is strictly being watch over by Azumano Police Department, and hopefully they are able to arrest Dark for his charges on multiple attempts and succeeds in stealing priceless arts from various museums in Azumano-Chou. The Police Department had received Dark's invitation cards stating that he will come and retrieve the Tears of Nightingale, and he had arrived on time to seize the said artwork. Lydia Kohinata, Channel 4."

Maia's eyebrows raised in question. She was sure she heard someone called Phantom Thief Dark and that the Police Department itself got an invitation card from the said Phantom Thief Dark. Could something as preposterous as this exist on God's green earth! _This town is way too weird_, thought Maia_, but nonetheless, I like it._

The next day, Maia woke up early to take the time to truly admire the little town in Azumano-Chou. The wind was lovely, the grass and trees are green, even a retard couldn't be happier with the weather this lovely. Occasionally children would run around her and disappear into the streets, and talking about streets, Maia thought about something.

Her fridge is entirely empty after yesterday's dinner; a _big _bowl of salad.

Her brother, Akihiko Kira, had taken the liberty to buy a house online, of course, all those tedious and tiresome house inspecting and blah blah blah and all those crap that one need to do before buying a house-well, half an apartment really-entirely for Maia's sake, saying that "I'm her brother, and this is what a brother does to a sister (securing and making sure that her money in bank is far from enough)." To Maia, he's just being over reactive, hell, even all her cousins does that to her. _I came here to learn not to rely on family about everything and the basic instinct of survival in humanity; being independent, and not having all of them secretly adding 500 thousand yen in my bank account, Maia thought. _But it's too late; since she had basically agreed on the terms and conditions her brother had made for her, _especially _for her.

Terms and condition on leaving for Azumano-Chou ALONE;  
1. Residential area shall be determined and taken care of by Akihiko Kira (Onii-sama)  
2. 500 thousand yen shall be transferred from Akihiko Kira's bank account to Akihiko Maia's bank account monthly without fail. (Onii-sama)  
3. Take proper meals daily. Any eating disorders shall earn a visit from Akihiko Kira himself. (Onii-sama)  
4. Promise to tell family members when anything odd or weird or bad happens to Akihiko Maia, including boys' issues. (Onii-sama, Saya Shiratoe, and the rest of the adults)  
5. Anything Akihiko Maia desired shall be sent over as soon as possible, provided that Akihiko Maia herself told any of her family members whatever her heart desires. (Onii-sama, Saya Shiratoe)  
6. On Akihiko Maia's birthday or school cultural events, important family members shall come and visit; no excuses. (Onii-sama, Saya Shiratoe)  
7. Send regards to Miharu Shiratoe and Yoite Shiratoe whenever Akihiko Maia is free. (Miharu Shiratoe and Yoite Shiratoe)  
**8. Swear and promise on the deceased father and mother (R.I.P) that a mobile phone that Akihiko Kira brought will be carried WHEREVER Akihiko Maia goes. (Onii-sama)  
9. Stay out of dark alleys and strange looking strangers (Onii-sama, Saya Shiratoe).  
10. On the first sign of danger, RUN (Onii-sama, Saya Shiratoe).**

As Maia pondered about the contract, or rather, the terms and condition that her brother and family had set for her, and remembered something. Strangely, three of those 'errands' that blue-haired smartie insisted her to do (for the instructions were written in bold letters) resembled four of those terms and conditions her brother and her family had set for her, and strangely, she fumed over this 3 little things (huge things in Maia's case). _What am I, a retard?_

As mentioned in the terms and conditions, the name Akihiko Kira and Saya Shiratoe appears quite a lot. Akihiko Kira is, without a doubt, Maia's brother, while Saya Shiratoe is Maia's father's brother's wife's sister's husband's children, which made them more or less relatives. Saya Shiratoe wields most power in her family, since she is the eldest (although only 17 years old, but measuring in birthdates, she is the eldest of all girls in any of her relatives, that include Maia.), and not to mention her father is the yakuza of a famous and most feared mafia gang (Maia: Don't worry, they're harmless to nice and innocent people, especially with Saya Nee-sama around.). And then with Miharu and Yoite Shiratoe. They're Saya's twin brothers, both aged 7, and they're unusually close to Saya, sticking to her most of the time, but they stick to Maia and their other cousins too (basically, if it's family members, they'll stick to them). Nobody, as in _nobody,_ could ever get annoyed with the twins antics, as they are far too cute to be annoying with. Anyone in their right mind (and those without a right mind) would want them to stick to them.

(A/N: Those that watch Nabari no Ou, imagine a mini- okay, 7 year-old version of Miharu and Yoite. I'm baffled that Yoite died at last, and since I don't want him to die, I'll make him healthy plus a little weak and a twin brother taking care of him. Haha! Curse me all you want, but I'm set, because imagining Yoite and Miharu as twins and being as young as 7 years old is just sooo cute!)

Now, back to her empty fridge, Maia planned to spend all those money she had on food (since she spends the most amount of money anyone could ever imagine on them…) and the money she is currently and secretly trying to earn (she just got herself a job…) on clothes and other things. Then the issue with the credit card. Yes, her brother had given her a credit card with an amount that will never ran out, which she had reluctantly taken and stuffed into her purse with a moody expression. She hated being pampered. But then, there's always a fun way to spend all those ridiculous amount of money. She had made a list of things that she's going to use the credit card to pay, for example, bra, sanitary pads, underwear and possibly g-strings, possibly tampons and, maybe later, condoms and lubricants, that'll scare someone's shit outta hell when they got a list of things she bought with the credit cards.

After spending _lots _of money on food, Maia went home. The first thing she does is pack those things in her fridge. Milk, tomatoes, oranges, peaches, a varieties of vegetables, sweet potatoes, white carrots, herbs and spices, etcetera. The list could go on and on. How did she carry all of them back? Well, she paid someone (a hefty sum of 5000 yen) and have them help her carry some of the load back. Smiling at her now tucked refrigerator, Maia retreated to her bathroom, took a shower, and got out, dressed up, grabbed her casual sling bag, then rushed out of her apartment; after all, first day at part-time job doesn't mean that the nice lady at the pub won't fire her.

It's almost 7.30p.m, and Maia arrived at Pub Rose. Suddenly, both of her arms are grabbed by firm a set of firm hands, and that her feet are no longer on the ground; she's practically dangling in the air.

"Huh?" was what she muttered after entering the pub.

"Don't worry, Violet-chan, we're just acting on orders," said one of the bulky men holding her. Looking down closely on them, Maia noticed that they're both wearing dark glasses, both are bald (both heads are amazingly sleek and shiny despite the lack of hair), both wear heavy cologne (which actually smelt quite alright on them and that it suits them) and both wear dark tux. Secretly, Maia thought that if only they were black, then they'll look exactly like Men In Black. They were actually nice and friendly and merely pretending to look fierce bodyguards of Pub Rose, and they're very nice to everyone in the pub, well, that is, before working hours, but as for what they'll look like _during_ working hours, she'll get to see today.

Both of them stopped right in front of a bright blue door (Maia's eyes squinted to look at the signboard sticking on the door), but before Maia could determine what room will this door lead, the two bodyguards practically threw her in and, to her surprise, saluted to whomever that is inside the room and disappeared in a wisp of dust and soot, and perhaps a little cloud of cologne.

"Well then girls, let's get to work," a voice behind her said smoothly. Looking around briefly, left and right, up the ceiling and on the chairs, everywhere, and possibly every crooks and nanny in the room, were dresses of all sorts. From classic and elegant looking evening gown, to coquettish Cha Cha dress. Anything one could possibly imagine (of course, that excluding swimwear, dominatrix attire and translucent clothing's, after all, this is not a sex club.), and at the end of the room is four pretty woman, each one more beautiful than the other, and ever inch of them screamed sexy and hot and young, and in each one of their hand is a different tool; hairdryer and comb, makeup kit, scissors and measuring tape, and stilettos, and that, is in fact, what Maia feared most. In Maia's point of view, if they should exchange the tools in their hands into axe and butcher's knife and stuff, they'll look like a pack of hungry and highly dangerous civilants.

Stuttering slightly, Maia pleaded with them, who had started to pick her hair and measuring her foot and waist and breast size, "Erm…could I just go out wearing what I like, and no makeup and shi- I mean, cra- No, I mean, just simple?"

"Absolutely not! What do you think this place is, Barcelona Market?" said the one holding the hair tools. She's the one that has bright purple hair, and one that has glitters in them, and she reeks of hair products. Obviously, she's the one handling the hairstyles.

"Be nice, Acanthus, you don't want to scare the young girl on her first day at work," said a girl holding a bright green colored dress (which Maia immediately crossed her hands as a 'no'). She wears a very scanty-looking mini-skirt with lace and ruffles and ribbons all sewn at the wrong place, making her looking slightly punk-like, but still, she's breathtakingly beautiful with her long curly (very curly. In fact, it almost looks like a wig) blonde hair.

"I'm Angelica the tailor in Pub Rose, and Acanthus is the hairdresser- oh, just relax already! Acanthus does everyone's hair in this pub, and look at us, do we look like something that'll eat you?" said Angelica, measuring her waist.

"N-no," stuttered Maia_. I thought I've died and this is hell…_

"Well, anyway, this is Dock," said Angelica, pointing at the one currently trying to curl her eyelashes, "-she handles the makeup stuff, and that is Hortensia," pointing towards the lady with spiky blue hair, obviously a wig, diving for the perfect heels and jewel, "she handles the footwear, but she does ornamentation at the same time seeing as footwear is basically the easiest job ever."

"Well, hi…"

Everyone paused in their work.

"Just 'hi'!" everyone, excluding Maia, chorused together.

"Er…ah! It's my pleasure working with you."

Everyone's eyes squinting at her as if she's something valuable to be decided who's the buyers. "Hm…she's not bad, for a starter-"

"-and amatures-"

"Well then young lady, come and see us whenever you have a date, we'll make you the prettiest girl in Azumano-Chou."

Just then, the door burst open, and in came Wild Daisy, the manageress, lady boss and the owner of Pub Rose. She gave one look at Maia and gave a thumbs up at the four 'decorators' standing behind Maia, letting her admire what they have done to Maia and grinning like an idiot.

"Well, Sweet Violet, the invitation has been sent out-"

"Invitation?"

"-to inform every one of our members in this club that a new girl has joined us as the new voice of Pub Rose, and right now, every single one of our members has responded to this invitation, including our very own special member-"

"Special member?"

"-you'll know soon enough. And what I want you to do-" turning Maia's shoulders so that she faced the stage. It was very dark, and Maia faintly recognized the musician's silhouettes, but before she could comment or say anything, the manageress slapped both of her hands on Maia's shoulder, securing her in place and whispered in her ears, "-is to stand up there and sing one of the most nostalgic song you ever heard, even better, a song that you had heard and loved once a long time ago. Tell the audience your story through your song, mesmerize them, capture them, make them remember the beauty singing on that stage, make them beg for one more song, make them want to stay here forever…"

"Make them…remember me…singing on that stage?" Maia repeated Daisy's words slowly, as if in a daze, imagining herself singing on that stage and everyone listening intently.

Smiling, Daisy said, "Yes, make them yearn for your voice, make them remember this day forever…"

"Remember…me…forever…", stupidly Maia's thoughts travelled away from Pub Rose topic, and saw herself standing in front of the Prime Minister's podium, waving to the citizens of Azumano-Chou. She mentally slapped herself for allowing her thoughts to stray.

Turning her back to face her, Daisy said sternly, "Can you do that?"

For a moment, Maia thought that Daisy had mind-reading abilities and that she is caught with her thoughts straying, but seeing as Daisy looked so intently into her eyes Maia can't help but to stutter a little, "Y-yes."

"Good. Now, before the lights shines on you, remember to tell the musician your choice in song, and then, do what you're capable of doing. Don't disappoint us." Said Daisy. Upon hearing the word 'us', Maia looked up from the sparkling floor tiles. There, standing behind Daisy, is the workers in Pub Rose, every one of them whispered to her a 'ganbatte' and 'good luck'. Touched, Maia only gave a nod and smiled to them, before turning around and heading for the stage.

Maia whispered to the lead musician's ears the song that popped in her head that very moment, and waited for the song to play. A blinding light flashed ahead of her, and as she had not wanted to make herself look weird by squinting ahead of the light, she had her eyes closed. After the music came to the note where she had to sing, she takes a deep breath and let her mind wander back to the past.

_Dancing bears painted wings_  
_Things I almost remember_  
_And a song, someone sing_  
_Once upon a December._

Nobody paid attention to her at first, but gradually, when she started to sing, everyone stopped at whatever they're doing.

_Someone holds me safe and warm_  
_Horses dance through a silver storm_  
_Figures dancing gracefully_  
_across my memory._

Everyone in the pub is now looking at her intently, admiring her face expression and admiring how beautiful she looked with that deep red dress she wore.

_Far away long ago_  
_glowing dim as an ember_  
_Things my heart used to know_  
_once upon a December_.

Finally daring to open her eyes, the first thing she saw is a pair of very blue eyes, the very eyes that she had came across to on her first day in Azumano-Chou. The owner of that pair of eyes is looking, no, staring at her, a small curl on his lips signifies a hidden smile.

_Satoshi!_ thought Maia. Yes, Satoshi as in Hiwatari Satoshi. He's wearing a tux, like everyone else, and Daisy the manageress of Pub Rose sat beside him, admiring her from below. Satoshi gave her a slight nod, and Maia smiled back to him in response. She was very much surprised to see him here, and wearing a tux, and without his spectacles, he looked so different, so…matured. Quickly averting her eyes back to the crowds, Maia sang the rest of the notes.

_Someone holds me safe and warm_  
_Horses dance through a silver storm_  
_Figures dancing gracefully_  
_Across my memory_

Satoshi was quite as surprise as Maia is when she first spotted him sitting there right in front of her, and truly, he didn't expect that this little trouble-bringer would come here for a part-time job, according to Wild Daisy. The manageress of Pub Rose is his friend, and she knew a lot about curses and magic and the Hikari artworks and various other magical artworks. Aside from helping him in his various case of searching Hikari artworks, she also helps him gather information's about the whereabouts of wanted criminals. Wild Daisy was, in fact, one of Satoshi's not-so-close friend back in university.

For all he knew, Maia looked exceptionally beautiful today. He barely recognize her in her current attire, but her eyes, he knew that pair of eyes despite the fact that he had only seen that pair of eyes for one whole day, and knew that it was her after all. Her hair is wavy at the end, eyes carefully darkened to bring out the color in her eyes, and her deep red dress decorated with ribbons and lace and roses. A beauty, as Wild Daisy had said earlier to him, is always in the eyes of the beholder, regardless of what her attire is. _Hell, she can sing, _thought Satoshi.

_Far away long ago_  
_Glowing dim as an ember_  
_Things my heart used to know_  
_Things that yearns to remember_  
_And a song someone sings_  
_Once upon a December~_

A loud applause erupted from below the stage right after the last note died down. Leaning across the table, Satoshi whispered to Wild Daisy, "What's her curfew?"

"11." Was what came as a reply.

"Make it 9 for today." Satoshi said to her, standing up and walking towards the dressing room which he had seen Maia head towards to.

"Today." Confirmed Wild Daisy. She stared as the blue haired boy- no, young man head towards where Maia had went to a moment ago. _Seriously,_ she thought, _that boy is still as stubborn as ever, at least let protest for a while or something!_

Satoshi told the bald guards to tell Maia that her working hours for today has ended and she is to go home using the back door, where the dark alleys and dangers lurks. When they told her about it, she had agreed on cheerfully and skipped, yes, skipped to the back door.

She was happy, happy that everyone loved her voice, happy that everyone clapped their hands, happy that she had done what Daisy had asked her, happy that Satoshi is there… Wait.

What?

_Like hell I'll be happy that he's there! _Thought Maia. (She thought that she's merely talking in her mind, but in fact, she really didn't just talk in her mind, but speaking out loud) _He's just a…a…a walking talking breathing living portable map of Azumano-Chou that's all! Hell, he even insulted me a few times, and I pretended that I don't have a clue about it just to keep his face on! Just you wait, look, just you wait…Don't think that just because you look good with all those crooked smile of yours and brilliant blue eyes then you'll get any girls you want. Hell, there's no way I'll like someone like you! The only time it does is when pigs fly! Hell froze over is fine too! And lion vegetarian species! And the mummy tombs are friendly mummies instead of horror mummies…Wait..why am I thinking about whether I like him or not? Shit…thoughts wandered off again…_

All the time, she was walking straight on ahead, fuming without a reason, but she stopped right at her tracks when she heard a chuckle behind her. And that chuckle sounded familiar…

_God, please, anything, anyone but __**him!**_

Slowly, Maia turned around, and find, to her horror, the blue haired smartie, Satoshi, standing by the door. BY the door…

"It's always amusing to watch someone mumbling out loud all of their thoughts…" he said, with a smirk on his face. His eyes seemed to sparkle with un-laughed laugh.

"Someone…mumbling…their thoughts…" Maia repeated slowly and stupidly, recalling and trying to remember if she _did_ mumbled out her thoughts…

_Holy Hell! That means he heard what I said! God! Could it be that you cannot hear my prayers! Then all those years I went to church, it's a waste!_

"It's nice seeing you again, Akihiko Maia, or should I say, the new voice of Pub Rose, Sweet Violet?"

Oh…now that's hell.

Sweat dropping and eyes widened in shock, she forgotten that Kiku Obaa-chan had told her that this blue-haired smartie is currently studying in the very school that she had applied into, and she's not officially 17, and a part time job in the pub, and him, oh God…"Err…well, nice to see you too. Bye!"

Before she could dash her way out of trouble, Satoshi had grabbed hr arms, none-too-gently, and roughly (well, carefully actually.) slammed her to the brick walls behind her. Looming over her, Satoshi said in a you-are-seriously-in-trouble tone, "Akihiko Maia, I trust that you are well aware that working in a pub as a hostess is strictly forbidden at school?"

Back to present time…

**INDEX  
**Wild Daisy-Dost thou love me?  
Sweet Violet-Modesty  
Acanthus-Arts  
Angelica-Inspiration  
Dock-Patience  
Hortensia-Ornaments


	4. 4: First Day At School

**4-First Day At School **

The distance between Azumano Senior High School is rather far away from Maia's apartment, and now, Satoshi's apartment too. Maia's brother had tried his best to find the closest apartment to the school that Maia had insisted to attend, but really, the apartment next to Satoshi's apartment is really the last of the last vacant and beautiful apartment. Actually, Maia did not mind whether the school is close to her resident or not. Azumano-Chou has many greeneries that Maia had a knack in suddenly approach one and begun to talk. Yes, Maia _talks _to plants, and trees, and animals. She regards every living breathing organism on God's green Earth have _feelings, _and they'll feel lonely if one doesn't talk to them. Akihiko Kira had secretly tried to trick her into seeing a physician, thinking that the blow she's suffering from her parents death have taken a toll on her brain and had somehow…malfunctioned. The next thing he knew, the physician had closed down his healing centre and gone off abroad to re-study and re-take his qualification as a physician.

Satoshi still had his personal driver, due to his father's insistence that he owns a personal driver, but he didn't use the given car. Satoshi has grown much taller than last summer, and over the years (although only two years), he has slowly grown into a young man, and so has the other boys in his class last 2 years, including Dark's tamer, Niwa Daisuke. Since he himself is not one to go for a jog or gym or workout, he combined all of those into a slow walk from his apartment to the school instead of using transports. Then again, as usual he woke up early, prepared himself to go to school, lock the door, and heard the door next to his apartment creak open. Yes, the door of the next apartment, now Maia's, does made a creaking sound, and inwardly he thinks that in this way, he'll be able to know whether Maia has arrived _safely _at home or not, seeing as she's one that trouble loves to seek and swoop. Planning to surprise her, as he thought most girls would after a kiss like that yesterday, he walk up to her apartment and stand right behind the oblivious Maia. His first thought would be that she'll blush, and since he's better at controlling his emotions, does not. So as soon as she sees him, the first thing that surprises him is that she did not blush, instead, answered in a rather sarcastic tone.

After the series of squabbles and being reprimanded by a group of elderly people, he invited Maia (while trying his best to remain emotionless. Maia makes the work extra hard for him since she was jeering at him in a rather comical way that seems to spark on his anger.)for a walk to school. After looking at him from top to toe, then toe to top, then back to his eyes, staring him for a while and then she finally said, "Well, you do look handsome."

Satoshi had expected a 'It's my pleasure,' or 'Yes, please,' since it's what he read and hears in movies, but it's not what he heard. Blinking in confusion as it is the first time someone used 'handsome' to describe him, Satoshi said, "Pardon?"

"You, are handsome, till the extent that every girls turn their head to look at you despite the presence of their boyfriends beside them. So if I were to walk with you, wouldn't they make me an enemy instead because a man as beautiful as you is taken?"

Sighing, Satoshi said to her, "Must you think of a reason and excuse just to be in my presence?"

"Well, not really, but you see, I'm not as beautiful as you. Most people are paired up like this; ugly with beautiful, pretty with shy, handsome with ugly-"

"That's fine, just think of yourself as ugly."

"Should I go to that extent just to walk with you? _I don't think so_."

"Then what do you suppose we should do? _We_'re going to the same school and _we're_ practically living under the same roof, but _we_ walk _separately_? Seriously, didn't you ever consider about the fact that you're new here and that you didn't even know where is the direction of the school you're supposed to head to?"

For a moment, just for a moment, everything fell into silent abyss; even the waves and seagulls stopped making a sound.

"Well, what are we waiting for! On to school or we'll be late!" Maia exclaimed suddenly, walking- correction, marching towards the road.

"School's this way." Said Satoshi, heading towards the opposite direction.

Embarrassed, Maia quickly covered up her mistake, "I know that! Just thought to stop by and say hello to the wind."

* * *

Along the way, Maia had tried to keep her distance from Satoshi as far as she dared (she got lost very easily in foreign places, even in the presence of someone she knew, she'd lost them immediately, and unintentionally. Usually, the safest way to stay not-lost is to hold on to one person's sleeve, but in this case, Satoshi is really not a good candidate for that), but even with the cover ups that she had planned with Satoshi, (well, forced actually) who reluctantly agreed (somehow fearing that trouble would swoop on her any moment when he's not near her), somehow, the girls around the area they walked stared hard at Maia accusingly. She herself was in confusion. How on earth does those girls knew that she knew Satoshi?

The answer; because Maia's the only one that doesn't _look _and _stare _at the great Hiwatari Satoshi, graduated from University at the age of 13 and became a Supreme Commander of Azumano-Chou at the age of 14, and unbelievably smart and good looking. Well, Maia doesn't knew most of them, _yet, _but funny things would soon follow if she were to know about it. Well, what does Satoshi does in this situation? He occasionally stole a glance at the one and only girl that doesn't stare and look and worship him like a God.

"Would you stop looking at me!" exclaimed Maia loudly. She had, in fact, felt the gaze that the blue-haired smartie lay upon her several times already, and had swallowed her desire to fly a smack on his pale skin (which she secretly wondered how smooth it was). Seriously, why didn't she do that? Because there's that mop of blue hair and brilliant blue eyes that seemed to 'scan' her of any trouble and secrets. Maia's weak against anything blue.

"What makes you think I was looking at you?"

"Y-you- You're impossible."

"Me? Impossible? _**Pigs would fly**_ if I'm impossible," said Satoshi, purposefully reminding her of what she had said yesterday, which, to his amusement, earned him a blush (finally!) from her. He secretly wishes that Krad wouldn't notice how he thought that her blush actually looked one of a kind.

"I'd say hell'll freeze if you keep looking at me." Said Maia, finally arriving at Azumano Senior High School. Everyone is trying their hardest to walk by Satoshi, just so they could accidentally _brush _their hands on his blazer, but their chances is ruined when Maia, still doesn't know why people, especially girls, gave her such a cold look that she had begun to feel cold, walk by Satoshi, and what makes thing worse is that one girl's shoulder accidentally (but was in fact purposefully) collided with Maia's shoulder, causing her to lean over to Satoshi for support, and Satoshi, being the gentleman he is, grabbed her shoulder in order to spare her the shame and pain of hitting something else. This flared up the coldness the other girls gave her.

Satoshi was just going to counter back of what she had said, but held back his speech when he actually, in God knows what ways, felt how cold Maia's back was, especially her collared white shirt (Every students, including girls, have their own uniformed blazers, but Maia preferred to held onto her blazer. She had grown accustomed to holding rather than wearing her blazer, since her hand always felt cold.), and when he turned around, all the other girls quickly averted their eyes from Maia to him, batting their eyelashes at him. He, of course, ignored them; his best field.

"Have you been sorted to your class yet?" said Satoshi, averting her from the previous topic and the cold she had felt. Blinking once, Maia decided to go with the flow, and mysteriously, after seeing his blue eyes and mop of blue hair, Maia's anger faded away in an instant.

"Yep, and based on my own result, I was supposed to be sorted into the 'A' class, but the nice principal told me that that particular class is full, so I'll have to settle for the 'B' class, much to my brother's irritation rather than mine."

"Really? Then I suppose you should report yourself to the principle first things first, to confirm that you had arrived and ready for your first day here." Satoshi said. Inwardly, he cursed (not really curse, but rather, he doesn't want to admit that his heart fluttered a little at the mention of the class that she is sorted to) fate that he had encountered with this particular trouble-seducer. He sat right beside the table that she is sitting in Café Bluebottle the first day she was here in Azumano-Chou and that her piece of cake had somehow soared in the air and landed right beside his cake, scaring the group of girls away (he knew the cake was hers by the way she kept staring at it, but was inwardly grateful for chasing away the girls for him), he encountered her again when he was invited by Wild Daisy to properly introduce the new voice of Pub Rose, she lived next to his apartment (and had chuckled when he heard her fell down from her bed and let out a string of curses. He heard them due to the sound vibration), then she's sorted to the very class that he was currently heading to. Next thing is what, her sitting near him? _This is too coincident_, thought Satoshi.

"Well then, see you later, _if _we were to bump into each other during recess or something." Maia said to Satoshi, the latter of her sentence dripped with sarcasms. Maia begun to look for the sign that says 'Principle Office' by walking down the long hallway in Azumano Senior High School, leaving Satoshi behind to sigh.

"That's the lab hall, Maia. Principle's office is that hall."

Doing a quick turn, Maia sticks her head out of the open window. "I know that don't I? I just want to take a breath of fresh air before seeing the Principle."

"There's nothing out that window but dust and soot."

Maia tried her best to hide the fact that she's chocking on the said dust and soot.

Not wanting Satoshi to think she had realize how embarrassing it was to be mistaking the way to the Principle's office, Maia quickly walked away from him and disappeared down the hallway. Actually, to tell the truth, Maia was paying much attention to the color of his eyes and the color of his hair rather than what he said_. They are of such a lovely shade,_ thought Maia, and when she waved goodbye, she was still thinking about the shade of his blue hair when he suddenly told her that she's heading to the wrong way. _Shit, I need to focus on where I'm going or else I might just embarrass myself for the rest of my life! Stop thinking about his hair! Stop thinking about his blue!_

Just as he was going to enter his class, a loud girlish voice ranged behind him.

"SATOSHI-KUN~~~~!"

He rolled his eyes in dismay.

"Good morning, **Harada-san,**" said Hiwatari, amplifying the 'Harada-san' loudly. He tried his best to not squint his eyes on her shocking pink bow that is placed on her hair, and that scantily-looking skirt that he knew had been shortened a great deal. Her bag is pink, her eyes shadow is pink, even her lips is in shocking pink, everything about_ her_ is in _pink_! Harada Risa is not really pretty comparing to her twin sister, Riku. They looked alike, but Harada Risa just looks too…decorative, and the worse has yet to come.

"How many times have I told you to call me Risa-chan, Satoshi-kun? You're bring mean~," said Risa, purposefully raising her voice a notch higher so as to sound cute. Some other 'retard' finds her presence to be calming, and declares that Risa is the most charming lady in Azumano Senior High School. To Satoshi, her voice alone is getting more and more like a banshee's screech day after day. It hurts his ear a lot, even Krad threatened to come out if he did not get away from her at the sheer sound of her voice.

Since Dark rejected Risa, and told her to find someone else that truly loves her, Risa had turned her entire attention towards him. He was thoroughly horrified when Saehara told him that Risa had switched her affection from Dark to him. She claims that since she is the prettiest girl in Azumano Senior High School, no one but Dark would be suitable for her, and since he had rejected her, she turned her affection to Satoshi since he is the Supreme Commander of Azumano Police Department. _"Only Satoshi-kun is perfect for me_." Was what she claims.

The next thing he knew, whenever he's within her eye radius, Risa would called out to him in her banshee-like voice, "SATOSHI-KUUUN~~! TEE-HEE!" Then, during class, when the teacher's writing on the board, Risa would turn around and said, "Psst! Satoshi-kun? Tee-hee!" He was annoyed with her antics, and she had disturbed him a number of times just by calling his name but talks nothing, just call his name to see his reaction. It's entirely pure reflex that he turned his head at the mention of his name, but gradually, whenever she called out to him, he'll pretend that he didn't hear about it and continued to do whatever he was doing, but that's not all she does. She called him several times, each time amplifying her banshee-voice, and for each time she called his name, a nerve popped on his forehead.

He didn't need to answer her question, because, thankfully, the class teacher had entered.

"Settle down, class, settles down!" said the class teacher, a short, four-eyed, middle-aged lady with a bob-shaped hair. "Well, it's good to be back to school, and my, every one of you has grown so tall since last summer! But before I ask you to hand in your summer homework, I have someone to introduce to the class, come in, dear!"

Upon hearing what the teacher had said (actually, Maia reacted to the word 'dear'), Maia entered the classroom, forcing herself to held her head high. Boys immediately started to stare and blush and all the crap upon seeing her.

"She'll be starting her first senior year here in Azumano and everyone please be kind to her. Dear, come and introduce yourself."

Taking a deep breath, Maia said (as loudly as she could), "Hello, my name is Akihiko Maia. I came from Kensei Academy in my hometown and I'll be starting my senior years here, hopefully until the end. Well then, any questions?"

Usually, one would not ask if there are any more questions, but seeing as it's basically the first time Maia transferred to a new school, she took the privilege to ask, which, once again, made Satoshi rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked one boy. Maia was expecting this question, so she said what she thinks is the best answer, "Yes." Satoshi raised his eyebrow. He knew she was lying about it since she hides her hands from view.

"Then, do you have a brother?" asked one girl, looking all eager and excited. Maia herself was a pretty girl (Maia is a beautiful girl, but pretty would sound humble enough), so people would expect that any brother of hers would be beautiful (aka good looking) too. "Yes."

"Then, is he good looking and cool?" Surprisingly, that question came from Risa. Smiling, Maia said, "He's 31 this year."

"Ne ne, do you have cousins?" said another boy, his eyes too emitted a kind of sparkle.

"Yes, but they're engaged."

"Where did you dye your hair?"

"They're natural."

"Contact lens?"

"Natural color."

"What's the brand of your lipstick?"

"I don't wear makeup."

"Okay class, that's enough. I'm sure Akihiko-san is tired, ne?" the teacher asked Maia, sweat dropping right from the first question. Instead of waiting for her to answer, the teacher continued, "Right, as for your seating, there's an empty seat right behind there and over there, the choice is yours."

Now, Maia's finally realized that the blue-haired smarty is there, and horrifyingly, right beside him is an empty seat. Hell, there's no way I would sit there with him, was what she thought at first. When her eyes spotted the second empty seat, did she noticed the 'dangers' of the area.

Left, right, front, back, _girls_, in _heavy_ makeup, and grinning with an intention. They wanted to know more about her in case she has any _rich_ and _cool_ and _handsome_ cousins to introduce to them, and they didn't care if she _wanted_ to introduce her cousins to them, they'll just _force_ it out of her. Maia imagined herself in an interrogation room where F.B.I usually brought suspects to questions, and lying neatly in a row, are torturing tools, all bloody and rusty. Gulping, Maia thought the one word that popped in her head, _God!_

Biting her lips, Maia trudged upon towards the empty seat beside the now smirking Satoshi, who sits at the far end of the classroom which will enabled him an easy escape instead he needed to catch Dark, who sometimes sneaks out from Daisuke's consciousness and run around the school, seducing high school girls.

Just as Maia is going to sit down, Risa said loudly with her hands in the air without waiting for the teacher's permission on whether she could speak. "Miss Lee! (The class teacher teach English, and everyone is supposed to call her Miss Lee, but Risa and everyone else that is not quite fluent with English called her Misu Ri) I want to change seats with Akihiko-san."

Upon hearing her name, Maia immediately straightened herself. Some girls find her actions rather comical and giggled, while Maia stared at Risa with her ever so innocent eyes.

Risa had noticed how _her _Satoshi seemed to look more spirited than usual, and that he was smirking when she came upon him to sit on the empty seat beside him. Angered by the fact that this _brat _dared to sit near _her _Satoshi, Risa quickly raised her hand and stopped her from sitting on the seat beside Satoshi. She had smiled sweetly at Satoshi, who inwardly cringed the moment she declared that she wanted to exchange seats with Maia. Risa had seen Satoshi's horrified expression and misinterpreted that it was meant for the new girl who is going to sit beside him.

The class fell silent when Risa made her request. "Well, Akihiko-san, would you, by any chance, wish to change your seats with Harada-san?" Miss Lee asked her kindly. Risa had been known by her insistencies upon the things she wants, and had grown accustomed to it, sometimes going as far as to insist that she leads the drama club although she was just a secretary. Nobody could resist what she wanted, and in the end, the drama club leader exchanged their title with her, becoming the secretary instead.

Maia knew that the girl named Harada wants to make fun of her, judged by her sarcastic smirk. Maia knew just what to deal with this kind of people. Instead of obediently exchanging seats, Maia looked at Satoshi once, then at Risa, then at the teacher, and finally, looking back at Risa. Holding her gaze, Maia slowly picked up her school bag that she had placed beside the floor, and sat down right when Risa felt victorious.

"I appreciatethe _kind_ offer, Miss Lee (of course, Maia spoke perfect English since she was raised for a few years in France), but I feel more comfortable in the back seats."

Everyone fell into a series of shocks and murmurs and gasp, even the teacher was surprised. _Finally,_ _it's high time_ _somebody stands up against her_, was what the teacher thought, while others thought that Maia was awesome. The time for Risa's reign has finally come to an end and Satoshi sighed gratefully. Maia merely giggled and said to Satoshi, "Chill out, smarty, I didn't just save you, I saved myself too." Satoshi knew what she's talking about. The other empty seat across the classroom is surrounded by extremely noisy chatterbox; anyone who sits there will have gone mad by the end of the week.

"Well then, class, apart from introducing a new student to our class, I have good news for you."

Everyone piped down immediately. They're anxious for what the teacher's going to say, because if she said it's 'good news', then that would mean…

"We're going on a trip to this island next week for a project!"

Everyone cheered happily, excluding two of the students currently sitting at the back of the class, one emotionless, one staring at her table, eyes wide in fear of anticipation.

Noticing Maia gulping and sweating, Satoshi asked just so that he can satisfy his curiosity. "Something wrong with the destination?"

Maia turned around to face him, and he was briefly taken aback by her wide eyes brimming with unshed tears, "Is this a- a- a long distance trip?"

"Well, what else?" said Satoshi in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I knew it! I knew it was a waste I go to church! God has not even heard about my prayers after so many years I pray!"

Satoshi wondered what made her say that.


	5. 5: An Unexpected Wild Turn

**5-An Unexpected Wild Turn**

Maia dreaded about two things that particular week; when they boarded the ship, and when she asked for a leave from Wild Daisy. At first, when she went to the pub in broad daylight (2 days before she is to leave for the island), Daisy had thought that she was just being diligent and hard working by coming so early, but soon grown alarmed when she see how depressed Maia look; her back slightly hunched, hair in total disarray, and the worst of them all, her eyebrows are slanted in such ways that she looked almost sorrowful, as if she had lost her lover (when Maia heard this, she immediately perked up, protesting the fact that she looked as if she had lost her lover). Daisy circled a protective arm around her shoulders and lead her into the pub (thinking she was just trying to be tough), where she (personally, wow!) prepared a cocktail drink for her, which she knew is entirely non-alcoholic (Maia was too miserable to drink it and left it on the table for later).

"Miss Daisy?" said Maia in a small and miserable voice. Daisy tensed immediately and prepared herself for the worst that Maia is going to tell her.

"Go on girl; tell Wild Daisy everything you want to tell to Wild Daisy."

"May I apply a 4 day leave?"

"Oh I see, well, go on ahead and- wait- what did you say?"

"May I apply a 4 day leave?" Maia repeated, still looking as miserable as ever.

"Violet-Chan, are you sick or something?"

"No…"

"Then what is it?"

"My…my class planned a school trip…"

"Oh! A school trip! How nostalgic! I used to attend and participate in every one of my school trip when I was small, ah~ the joy of childhood-"

Daisy was alarmed when she saw Maia started to sob. _Shit! What should I do? What should I dooo!_

Right at the moment when she doubts her title of 'the toughest beauty in Azumano-Chou', in walked a special someone from the doors of Pub Rose. He's young, and bratty, and stubborn, yes, she cannot doubt about that, but, there's always an exception for him. He beats the record in University as the youngest ever to graduate as the top of his class, and he's the youngest person ever to be made Supreme Commander, and he's also the youngest person ever to held a special place in Daisy's heart; her rival. Let's just say that that person gave a hollow laugh when he was greeted by the sheer sight of a nearly crying Daisy and a sobbing Maia.

"Satoshi-kun! Great timing! Help me, I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" pleaded Daisy. In the very few times that Satoshi was surprise, it would include seeing Daisy plead.

"What in the world-" Satoshi started, but before any of them could say another word, a loud clutter of wood against the floor brought their attention to the source of the sound.

Maia stands up, with her glass of cocktail empty, slightly wobbly.

"Is that, by any chance, a glass full of mixed alcohol?" Satoshi asked, bewildered.

"Hell no! Of course not! Why would I give an underage (because Maia's not officially 17) alcohol? Those are just harmless cocktail juice." Daisy, now fully sane and sober, chirped jokingly with Satoshi, but what she says doesn't look very convincing.

"Does a harmless cocktail juice make someone like her wobble and grinning like a drunkard?" Satoshi countered back in his usual monotone voice.

"I'm sure she was just sad. Earlier before you came in between that grand door of mine, she looked so sad and miserable, as if she had lost her lover-" Daisy smirked inwardly when she noticed the slight twitch on Satoshi's eyes at the mention of 'lover'. "-, then I invited her in for a drink and let her pour out her problems. Turns out she was just here to tell me about her 4 days school trip! Seriously, Satoshi-kun, can't you apply for her a special exception or something? I mean, look at her! She's miserable! And as soon as she started to mention about her school trip, she burst out sobbing!"

A vulture-like grip landed on Satoshi's wrist and pulling him down as soon as Daisy mentioned about 'school trip', and when he looked down, there, kneeling on the floor, disheveled and face soaked in tears, was, believe it or not, Maia.

"Peace! *hic* Elf me app- *hic* *groan* *takes a deep wobbly breath* special execute for me *hic* Anytink but *hic* traveling! I hate *hic* tavel on transformer- *great hic* trans!…port…*hic*" was what Maia managed to stutter and blurt and whatever it is, out of her mouth, and baffled Daisy into gaping at her like a goldfish having it's eyeball in dire danger of being squeezed out of it. Obviously, she's dead drunk, even a retard could tell it just by a glance.

_Peace…execute…transformer…? Why in the world did Maia included execute and transformer in her words!_ Thought Daisy. He is, perhaps, the one and only person (other than Maia herself, but she's too drunk to realize what she had spoke) that understands what Maia had said. Daisy may hear it with all the 'peace' and 'execute' and 'transformer' in it, but to Satoshi, her speech sounds like this…

"Peace! (Please) Elf me app- (Help me apply) *groan* (a) special execute (exception) for me. Anytink (Anything) but traveling! I hate tavel (travel) on transformer (transport), *great hic* (No!) Transport!"

So, basically, what Maia is trying to say is, "Please! Help me apply a special exception for me. Anything but traveling! I hate travel on transport. No Transport!"

Turning towards Daisy (slightly staggering a little since Maia put her whole weight on him by pulling on his arm), who has ceased to gap and was now sweating profoundly upon realizing that the cocktail she had made for her was added with blueberry syrup, which was, unfortunately, spiked with alcohol to bring out the taste and smell of the blueberry, and the worse? She's the one that ordered the bartender to spike it weeks ago, and she had entirely forgotten about it. Satoshi glared at her.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble this brings me? And how am I suppose to bring her home with her-" pointing at the now slurring and madly laughing Maia on the floor, still maintaining a firm hold on his arm, "-in such a dreadful condition! And Krad, we haven't talk about that either! He hates woman of her age, and he'll definitely-"

"Won't harm her." Said Daisy, for once again, she was now fully sane and sober, and in a serious tone, told Satoshi that information.

"And how do you suppose to prove that?" Satoshi said sarcastically. He knew that Daisy would never knew how painful it was to undergo such drastic change in his body when Krad so often forcefully pushes his way out of Satoshi's control. The pain was excruciating, beyond the pain of grave, as if his soul is torn into shreds just to let a cursed angel take control of his body.

"Well, if you insist." Slowly, Daisy pulled out a little brown leather pouch from her many hidden pockets. Satoshi knew what that particular object is, and was alarmed when Daisy took a small pinch and sprinkle them on Maia's face. For a while, Satoshi dreaded the moment when the full effect of the powder in the pouch would show, and yet, nothing happens.

"Now, do you understand what this particular lady possesses in her?"

Satoshi was too surprise to speak.

"Magic _rejects_ her. I haven't tried the potion type yet, but I believe they're the one and only thing that will work against her, but magic, none of it works on her. I've tried countless of them on her, even the fatal ones, believe me, and none works whatsoever, it is as if magic doesn't _want_ to get close to her."

Maia slurred a word that sounded like "Sata oishi~"

"Do you know what that means, Satoshi-kun? That would mean, as long as you are in her presence, or she touched you in a way, Krad will stay in control within you. As long as she has any contact with you, Satoshi-kun, your soul won't break."

Patting his thigh (Satoshi raised his eyebrows) and rubbing her head against his thigh like an over affectionate cat, Maia slurred and chirped at Satoshi in her drunken state, "Ne ne…Sato-kun…Let's kiss."

Both Daisy and Satoshi raised both of their eyebrows in surprise.

"I was always wonder- *hic* wondering *hic* how a kiss felt like, and *hic* sex, haha! Ne ne, let's do that. *hic*, ne? Sato-kun? *hic*

"My, Violet-Chan's so drunk!" exclaimed Daisy, shock traveled in waves across her brain. As for Satoshi, well, he must admit, those blush and half-lidded eyelids of Maia's is sure a great change of view; she's so adorable when she's staring at him, especially with those drunken blushes.

"Exactly how much alcohol did that thing you gave her contain?"

"Not much, around 5/10-"

"5/10! For an underage like her!"

"It was just a coincident that I grabbed the blueberry spiked with alcohol! If I knew it was spiked earlier I wouldn't have given it to her."

Satoshi stared at her while trying his best to pry off Maia's vulture-like grip on his arms. He wanted to bend down and prying her hands off him, but it would made his standing unstable, and he didn't want to imagine the sheer image of Daisy rolling on the floor laughing at him for falling on his bum, and if he did manage to pry her hands off his thigh (which had changed from their vulture-like grip to groping, much to Satoshi's dismay), he would have to make sure that she does not fall on her head or a concussion might happen to her. Then again, if he hunker down while prying her hands off, he would risk having his bum touched (or worse, _groped_) by her hands, and he didn't want that to happen considering that he might probably straighten up as if he has come into contact with high voltage electricity because for some reasons, he was sure that it would be a hilarious sight.

"Okay, okay, it's my fault, happy? Just look at that girl, not once have I seen her not have anything blue on her. Blue watch, blue ribbons, blue shirt, and blue bubblegum. She's a fan of blue, ne?"

Satoshi changed his stance; he glared at her.

Daisy clicked her tongue when Satoshi doesn't want to make a joke with her. "Just get her home already! Tell her if she wakes up that I approve what she wanted (Daisy knew Maia dreaded the school trip, but pretended that she doesn't knew anything about it.). You youngsters should just go out to the world and explore to your heart's content. Enjoy the trip then, _Sato-kun_~"

"_Thanks_," said Satoshi sarcastically.

Satoshi, with great difficulty, tried to heave Maia off the ground, but by the way she sits on the ground, there's just no way that he's going to get her off anytime soon.

"Daisy-san, help me help her sit up."

"Sure thing. Mmm…Maia sure smells wonderful."

Satoshi blushed slightly when Daisy mentioned how wonderful Maia smelt. He did, in fact, caught a whiff of something that smelled wonderful from Maia, probably from her hair, and he actually liked how she smelled; that's what terrifies him.

Daisy helped Satoshi to heave Maia up to his back (and received a slap from Maia's drunken straying hands. Daisy glared at her and muttered a few curses under her breath), and now, seeing Satoshi giving Maia a piggyback ride back home (and tried his best to not drop her when she snuggled behind him and rubbing her face against his mop of blue hair), Daisy smiled. _No one has ever done that to me voluntarily ._Thought Daisy.

So, after a series of "Look at that pair, oh, so sweet!", "Wow, bro, you're brave to give a girl a piggyback ride!" and received a "Don't try anything funny with that girl, boy," from an old man, Satoshi arrived at the door of Maia's apartment. Hopping slightly to bounce the now slightly snoring Maia awake, Satoshi asked her, "Akihiko Maia, where's your key?"

Maia, annoyed at being waken up from her sleep, said, "NOKIE!"

"Nokie? Oh, you mean 'no key'? Okay, I understand-"

It was then Satoshi realize what's the meaning of the word she had said, and wished earnestly that it was only his mind playing a trick on him. But when one is a Hikari possessing one excellent brain, one cannot deny the facts when it's right there in front of their eyes. So, taking a deep breath (despite having carrying Maia behind his back, he, truth to be told, did not even felt there's something behind his back. Maia was surprisingly feather-light, and carrying her was like carrying a baby.), Satoshi asked once more, "What? Where's your key?"

Maia didn't answer him that question. In fact, what she said afterward was this, "I vant to -url."

Alarmed, Satoshi dashed (yes, dashed) quickly to his own apartment, unlocking his door, slam it close with his feet and threw Maia into the bathroom, where, for once, there's no sound coming out. Not one teeny tiny sound.

Sighing, Satoshi let Maia take her sweet time to hurl and moved to the back of the apartment, where a kitchen sat untouched (and unbelievably squeaky clean). It took him ages just to find something for her to drink, and shamefully, it was just plain water from the tap.

Coming back to the front of the room where Maia is known to hurl in the bathroom, Satoshi grew alarmed when a whiff of strong alcohol came wafting into his nose.

Tong! Tong! Tong! Ahaha! Tong Tong Tong (Maia: "Sa-To-Shi")

Whipping his head towards the source of the sound, Satoshi's eyes widened in disbelief. Two bottles of empty wine (which was actually just for display purpose) lay on the ground near his white couch, still spinning slightly from the impact of Maia's straying hand that swings dangerously from left to right; exactly like a drunkard.

"Haha! Dink (drink) swine (wine) sicko! Haha! Satooishi! Come link (drink) swine (wine) wit (with) E (me)! Swine (wine) reeks (is) goop (good)! Swine (wine) baste (taste) goop (good)!"

"God…" said Satoshi in an unbelievable tone. He swore that he only left her for as long as 5 minutes, and yes, it did felt like ages for someone that rarely make use of the kitchen, and she had downed 2 bottles of 1 liter wine in a matter of minutes.

Just as he was staring, seemingly gone into a shock, Maia waltz (it was actually wobbled, but she was trying to waltz) her way towards him, still holding the glass of tap water. Seeing something in his hand, Maia grabbed it from him (who remained statue-like) and downed it down in seconds (he stared at her when she does that). Burping richly (astonishingly, Satoshi managed to snap out of his reverie at the sound of her burp), Maia grinned a what Satoshi labeled as _idiots grin_ and patted his cheek (she unconsciously used a bit of force in that) and said (to his surprise, after that glass of water, her wordings become more like _words_), "Ahh~ You're so handsome, Sato-kun, I think I'm in love with you. I think I deserve a kiss for that praise…" wrapping both of her arms around his neck, Maia stand on tip toe to reach his lips.

He grabbed her shoulders before she could reach him.

"Akihiko Maia-" he begun, but before he could continue further, Maia interrupted him by slapping both of her hands on his cheek and stared into his blue eyes.

"Maia, not Akihiko Maia, you made me sound like a criminal…" slurred Maia, still a little drunk from the alcohol. She moved Satoshi's head forward and backward while talking.

"Well then, _Maia_, I don't suppose you're sober enough to properly decide who you want to give your first kiss to, so please cease all this before I throw you out of my apartment."

"But why?" Maia said in a tone so innocent that for a split second, Satoshi felt a little guilty. "I want to give it to you…"

"You're not sober enough…" Satoshi sighed deeply. He was trying to ruffle his hair in desperation, but before his hand touched his hair, Maia's hand touched his cheek gently, and then, he caught her eyes.

They're staring at him with that innocent dazed look again. He resisted the urge to inhale deeply the sweet-smelling fragrance that seemed to cling to her like a cloud does to the Earth, and stared back, but he was losing his control. Something stirred in him when he realize how close they were, and how they're practically sharing the same breath (neither of them had bad breath), and that made him wanted to move away, but lo and behold, his body won't obey his command.

"Then, just one…let me feel what a kiss felt like…I wanted to know…"

He gritted his teeth tightly and knitted his brows together, only to realize that there's barely any space left between their lips, and that his heart is pounding loudly against his ribcage. If he wanted to stop, this is the only chance, but sadly (to him); his body remained statue-like no matter how hard he persuaded himself. _Maybe just one…_he thought. _One won't harm me enough…_

Before he knew it, something warm and sweet pressed against his lips timidly, as if to taste whether his lips are scalding hot or freezing cold. It was just a press at first, then, remembering vaguely about what the main heroin does to the main character in a random novel that she had read months ago, she experimented what the heroin in the story does to the hero; Maia licked Satoshi's lips.

That did it. Satoshi's self-control snapped by that one tiny action and almost immediately, one arm wrapped around Maia's waist (which he noted to be extremely small) while the other at the back of her head, angling them slightly. He angled his head a little and put more pressure into the kiss, which earned him a surprised gasp from Maia. Taking advantage of the circumstances, he plunged his tongue into her mouth, savoring the delicious alcohol and something that tasted sweet, making him wanting more. He deepens their kiss and moved his lips hungrily against hers, making Maia reflexively grabbed his forearm, not to push him away, but to restrain herself from making embarrassing noises; moaning.

As he noted, her lips are extremely supple, and she tasted so…it was hard to describe how she tasted, but Satoshi placed her on the 1st in his list of ambrosia. Despite the taste of strong delicious alcohol he managed to 'scrape' off the interior of her mouth and the taste of what belonged solely to her, he also caught the same whiff of sweet-smelling fragrance that he had smelled back in Pub Rose, moments before he gave her a piggyback ride. Then, as soon as the kiss started to get more serious, he stopped, allowing both of them a breath of air.

"Stop…we shouldn't do this." panted Satoshi, struggling to maintain back his self-control, one that had snapped when Maia licked him.

"But why? Since we came this far, why don't we do it?" said Maia innocently.

Satoshi's eyes widened when Maia started to peel off her outer coat, then her shorts, but before she could peel anything off later, Satoshi grabbed her arms (well aware that they are bare) and stopped her.

"This has gone too far, Maia! You're barely sober and yet you're here initiating us to do something further than a kiss! Are you really drunk Maia?"

"Dunk (drunk)? I'm no dunk, I'm perfectly sober, and I want sex."

"Maia-" Satoshi started, but before he could get any further, his heartbeat suddenly lurched a note higher, and soon after that all too familiar pain behind his back begun to get hotter.

**So, a girl here offering you sex? **

_Shut up! She's not of your concern!_

**My, my, still with that kind of tone, Satoshi-sama. Maybe I should ravish her thoroughly, and then I'll ravage her slowly-**

_Leave her alone Krad!_

**Why should I? You don't have any experience in this field, so just sit quietly and let me do the job. After all, you get to **_**feel**_** her too even though you're in here.**

Suddenly, the pain ceased to throb, and a cool hand was pressed against his cheek softly. It was Maia, and he vaguely remembered what Daisy had told him of her ability before he smiled in triumph.

**What- What happened? That girl- she-**

_I'll be keeping her by my side from now on, and you'll leave everyone alone._

**Haha! So, the girl had the ability to 'Reject' magical wave huh? Well then, it can't be helped, but still, I won't let you get away that easily.**

Right when he felt at ease, his heart rate rise up once again. There was no pain behind his back where the wings belonged to Krad is suppose to come out, but the torturing throbbing feeling on the lower part of his body, as if something was making him aroused. That was what makes Satoshi horrified with himself.

If Krad was 'awake' in him and was feeling angry or frustrated, Satoshi would try his best to keep that wave of feeling down, hurting Satoshi himself in return. He had rejected Krad's 'feelings', and he would have to pay a price for that; Should Krad feel any physical pain or feelings, in other words, aroused, Satoshi would feel it as clear as if they were his own.

He felt a wave of pleasure hit him and groaned when he felt Maia touch his forearm. _This is bad,_ thought Satoshi inwardly. If he would feel pleasure just by a simple touch, imagine what he would do to her if she were to kiss him again.

"Sato-kun?" said Maia in a small and innocent voice. She was (now only a little drunk) aroused by just a simple kiss, and had wanted more if Satoshi had not started to held his chest as if it hurts to not hold it. Beads of sweats broke out of his forehead soon after and, being worried, touched her cheek, and almost immediately, he stopped groaning in pain. She blinks a few times at his extremely weird antics before she reached out to touch his arms, then the next thing she knew is that he groaned, and, if she was not wrong, he groaned out of pure pleasure. The proof is evident on his face; pure pleasure and slightly red from it.

She had told him that she wanted to have sex (it was actually what Maia had been imagining herself to do when she reach 17, and that her curiosity has reached its peak that she would do anything just to feel what sex feel like, but she hide them deep in her heart for it was very humiliating to tell anyone she wanted to lose her virginity at the age of 17, and since she was still a little drunk, her subconscious becomes more dominant than her conscious mind and blurted out everything she had kept hidden carefully), and he acted like that. She wasn't sure if it is the right thing, but she does it prior to the feelings in her heart. She wrapped one arm around his neck and kissed the skin below his ear.

Then everything happened in a blur. All she felt was a rough hand grabbing her shoulders and pinned her to the wall, then a pair of lips descended onto hers roughly and plunged its hot tongue deep into her mouth without giving her time to prepare for it, arousing her once more. Satoshi felt his pants had grown a little tight and reflexively, thrust forward his hip to Maia's hip, earning a groan in return.

Grabbing one of her leg, Satoshi heaved Maia up to the wall and sandwiched her in between him and the wall. Maia noticed Satoshi's lips and mouth tasted sweet and tangy, and since she was a lover of anything sweet, she soon finds that it was hard not to stop kissing him. Wrapping her legs around his waist and both arms around his neck, Maia continues her assault on his lips, nipping it a little here and there while grabbing his excellent mop of blue hair.

Satoshi had completely lost control of his self-restrain, and finds that it was hard to stop himself from running his hand all over her. His hand soon came around her heated area between her legs, and after ripping off her underwear, he started to stroke it while Maia's body responded to the unknown object currently stroking it by excreting her essence. Satoshi startled Maia by inserted one long finger into her, causing her to clench her muscles at the foreign object currently pumping in and out of her, driving her insane with need and moaned with pleasure. After a while, a second finger entered her, scissoring and curling itself in her so as to make her ready for him when the time comes.

In a moment of passion, Satoshi pulled down his pants and released himself from restrain. He knew she was ready for him judging by the sheer amount of her essence currently pooling in his hand. He was so hard and that drives him wild, ripping his mouth from hers and clamped his jaws on her shoulders, stifling a groan of pleasure when his tip touched her skin.

Pulling his hand out from her right when she was getting close to climax, he positioned himself at her entrance and stared into her eyes. They were dark with lust and in them, he saw his reflection. There was only him in her eyes, and that, somehow, in a way or two, pleased him greatly.

In one single thrust, Satoshi took her and forced his swollen rigid male sex part that has to be satisfied into her roughly. Screaming in pain as her resisting flesh tore and bled, Maia clawed at Satoshi's back, who, regardless of her screaming and pain and tears, continued to thrust into her as if he was possessed, streams of blood flowed down onto his legs. He did not give her time to adjust to his size, and he pounded into her as hard as he could, as if he was ravishing her and takes great pleasure in her cries of agony. In truth, he had entirely lost his self-control, and transformed into an unknown person. Now, he is merely a wild person driven by the need to bury himself in lust and pleasure.

Slowly, despite the fact that Satoshi was pounding into her like there was no tomorrow, Maia soon found herself moaning, and the pain he had inflicted upon her dulled and replaced by waves of pleasure. She felt her muscles getting tighter and tighter as the moment goes by, and soon afterwards, she exploded, but the thrusting did not stop; it did not even cease to pound into her.

In fact, it was after she had climaxed for the 3rd time did Satoshi ceased to pound into her, but not before burying his seed deep in her. Pulling himself out of her and gradually calming down, Satoshi realized what he had done to her.

He had just raped Akihiko Maia.

He remembered how she screamed in pain when he broke her, he remembered the now dulling pain of scratches that Maia had inflicted upon him when she was in pain, he remembered how he did not stop pounding into her even after she had came. He, for once, was filled with an immense guilt that he started to break down and shed tears of guilt.

"Maia…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to do it…I…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Sitting with her back facing the wall, Maia panted slowly and stared at Satoshi, finding it odd that Satoshi would shed tears in front of her while kneeling down. Maia smiled softly to herself. _I'm a woman now_, she thought inwardly, happy with the notion that she is no longer a little girl.

"I'm so sorry…Maia…" Satoshi said, continuing to weep bitterly in front of her. His dignity is destroyed alongside with her stolen virginity, which he had ripped away from her so forcefully when she is not entirely sober. The burden of destroying a virgin when he had succumbed into Krad's desire wrapped heavily on his shoulders, and he knew, no matter how much he apologized, he couldn't give her back what was once hers. "I didn't mean to rape you…I'm so sorry…"

Maia's eyes widened at the mention of 'rape' and her smile disappeared. For a moment, she thought that she had heard it wrongly, but when Satoshi once again mumbled out the word 'rape', her instincts within roared at her to move forward instead and assure the man of her own selfish wish.

Launching herself into him, Maia slapped him hard on the cheeks, to which Satoshi did not respond, thinking that it was what he deserved for doing that to her. Grabbing his face in both hands, Maia forcefully turned his head around and stared into his eyes ferociously.

"You did _not_ rape me! _I_ said I want sex, and _you_ are merely complying with my wishes. I _gave_ you _my _everything to satisfy_ my_ curiosity and my selfish wish, and _you_ are merely helping _me_ to satisfy _my_ curiosity. This is not a _rape_, you _understand_ me? _This_ is the result of _human's curiosity_! _Humans curiosity_ you _hear_ me **_idiot_**! _Humans curiosity_!"

Then, as suddenly as she burst out raging, she, too, started to cry, and wrapped her arms around Satoshi's neck.

"But why didn't you make me sober a little before doing this~? Now I forgot what it felt like to have sex…"

Satoshi raised both of his eyebrows, very much surprised by the fact that instead of calling the police or telling everyone in the world that he had assaulted and raped her while she was drunk, she prefers to pound some of her opinion in him and slapped him and cry and said that he should have made her more sober when they have sex.

Instantly, it flared his anger.

Grabbing her shoulders roughly, Satoshi bellowed out loudly at her, "WHY YOU IDIOT! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE! YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO BE SCARED AND CRY AND CALL THE POLLICE AND TELL THEM I ASSAULTED YOU! WHY ARE YOU SAYING THESE INSTEAD! AKIHIKO MAIA!"

"Maia des!" said Maia, frowning slightly.

"Answer me!" Satoshi shock Maia a little.

After pondering for a while, Maia chooses her words carefully so as to not make him angry (she had no idea that her sheer innocent stares make him angry most of the time). "Well, should I report to the police then?"

Satoshi rolled his eyes. "After someone assaulted you like I did, you should do that!"

Maia blinked. Smiling, she hugged his neck despite his attempts to stop her. In a small voice that only he could hear, Maia whispered, "Don't be angry at me for getting something I have wanted to feel long ago. I'm just a little sad that I don't seem to recall the particular details as they are mostly a blur, but I feel happy. Strangely, I'll be sad if you're sad, and I don't wish to see you behind bars either."

Finding his mop of blue hair extremely soft and pleasant, Maia patted and stroked his head lovingly, as if to assure that everything is fine. Sighed in defeat, Satoshi begun, "We barely knew each other to begin with-"

"But I seem to know you long ago, and that is more than enough for me. And I wanted to say thank you to you too, but I'm afraid you'll get angry with me again."

"You just said it."

"Well…Oopsie?"

Both of them stayed like that for a while; Maia in his lap, Satoshi sitting cross legged on the floor, both half-naked. Satoshi doesn't seem to mind Maia hugging him. In points of fact, he finds their current position strangely warm and satisfying, and he felt something fluttered warmly in his heart. He had entirely forgotten the small detail that they're half naked. He rested his head on the crook of her neck and closed his eyes, taking pleasure in the warm heat that belongs to her.

Maia suddenly sighed in content and patted his mop of blue hair again. "Hmm…you're warm…"

Satoshi stayed as silent as he was.

"…and you smell great…so nice…" added Maia.

Rolling his eyes, Satoshi said, "I'm nothing but sweat and sex and you said I smell great? You're one hell of a weird girl, Maia."

Maia said nothing in return about that, but merely smiled, "I…really like you…sometimes…Sato-kun…well…not yet a lot…but sometimes…"

He noticed that Maia was growing rather limp in his embrace, and that her last words were slightly slurred, as if she's forcing herself to talk while succumbing to slumber. Carefully, he extracted himself from Maia's embrace. He expected Maia to straighten herself up, but all that he gets was her sliding into his arms. Clearly, she was fast asleep.

Stroking her cheek gently with the back of his fingers, Satoshi took the time and cherished the moment. It was the first time someone ever calls him 'Sato-kun' with that affectionate tone. Not that he like it, but he kind of loved the way she calls his name. She did not blame him for doing unforgivable things to her, but instead, turns them the other way round, saying that it was all her wish and that he was merely following her wishes. He never came across someone as stupid as her, and yet in the same time, as innocent and sincere as her.

Carrying her bridal styled, Satoshi gently laid her down on his bed and, after getting into the bed with her sleeping beside him, he carefully covered both of them with the coverlet. Reflexively, Maia wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his warmth (actually, she kind of 'smelled' him out and snuggled into the 'thing' that smelled great), her head on one of his arm. Now safely curled in his embrace, Satoshi kissed her head and rested his chin on her head.

"Thank you, Maia." Satoshi whispered silently, unaware that in Maia's dream, she heard what he said and smiled serenely.


	6. 6: Packing Chaos and Climbing Skills

**6-Packing Chaos and Climbing Skills**

The next day was a whirlwind of chaos; in both Satoshi and Maia's apartment. Maia awoke beside Satoshi, and finding him smelling great, she nuzzled into the crook of his neck, breathing in his manly perfume. Satoshi had long awakened from his slumber, but he did not want to disturb or wake her up for she had took the privilege of treating his arms as a warm portable pillow. Instead, he took his time to admire her long locks of dark brown hair; slightly wavy and extremely soft and silky, and it smelled wonderful. Back in school she always wore them in a low braided ponytail as according to school, which requires their hair to be neat and tidy at all times while outside she wore it in an extremely messy bun of bird nest, and that pretty much destroyed her image of a pretty girl. But then he remembered something, the night when he heard her sing for the first time in Pub Rose pretty much caught his attention; she looked so blindingly beautiful with her hair loose and flowing, and he remembered how his hand had itched to touch her hair that night. Grabbing a fistful of her locks, he gently moved them to his face and inhaled deeply. _God!_ was what Satoshi could describe about the sweet-smelling perfume in her hair. It was sweet in a way, almost like lily.

Then suddenly, she moved closer to him and nuzzled his neck. _She's awake_, he thought inwardly.

"Maia, you shouldn't do that," said Satoshi. Maia's only response is giggling. She liked how his voice rumbled in his chest and through his throat, and she certainly adore this place; the crook of his neck. So warm, so great, and so safe. So smooth, and plus, he did smell great.

"You still smell great…" mumbled Maia. Satoshi rolled his eyes.

"Truly Maia, I don't think I smell great myself; instead, you're the one that smelled great."

Puzzled, Maia's reply came in muffled as she pressed a kiss to his neck, "I am?"

"Yeah…" mumbled Satoshi. He lost all forms of reasoning when Maia kissed her neck, and couldn't think of anything else to say to her. Then something struck him like a thunder.

He had assaulted Maia yesterday…

Gathering his courage and prepare himself for what is to come next, he said slowly, "Maia, about last night-"

"Oh, how sweet of you to ask!" said Maia, sitting up and smiling down at him. "Yesterday was wonderful, thank you!"

He expected something dangerous thrown into his direction, but he did not expect her to cheerfully tell him the things he had done to her yesterday were anything but _wonderful._

"Maia-" he begun, but was interrupted before he could get the words out of his mouth.

"I_ told_ you_," _she said in a dangerous low tone, her eyes narrowing to slits as she glared at him, daring him to say another word about it._ "It. was. Wonderful, so it was wonderful, nothing more_."

The tone that Maia had used upon him was one that he had never heard before. Every one of her word dripped with unleashed danger and warning, and it made him stiffen in the bed. Not that he was afraid, but he more or less knew what a girl would do once they lost control on their emotions. So, in order to spare himself, his apartment and some of his favorite clothes (he imagined Maia throwing things at him and ripping his shirts apart), he drop the subject and do as she wishes.

"Okay, so, yesterday was wonderful, and today is dreadful."

Eyebrows rose in question, Maia asked him, "Today is dreadful? How's so?"

Sighing, Satoshi said to her, "You seriously forgotten all about the trip to the island…"

"Trip to the island?" repeated Maia. Then something clicked in her head.

Today is the day before class 3-B is supposed to depart for the island, and she hadn't packed anything yet, and it's currently…

_What time is it?_ Maia thought inwardly.

Scrambling up and ignoring Satoshi's effort to cover her half-naked form with the blanket while he himself whipped up his pants, Maia's head whipped around the apartment that belonged to Satoshi, searching for a- AHA!

The clock currently reads 11:50a.m.

Maia's eyes widened in disbelief, standing in her strange new blue oxford shirt and absolutely pant-less.

Somehow, in the middle of the night, Satoshi had took the advantage of her rolling to the other side of the bed and slipped a particular long blue oxford shirt to her sleeping form.

Breathing in a deep breath, Maia wailed at the top of her lungs, "IT'S LATE! MY GOD! THE PACKING! THINGS TO BUY! FOOD TO PACK! AND WE'RE LEAVING FOR SCHOOL AT 7A.M! SATO-KUN! WE'RE DREADFULLY LATE!"

Rolling his eyes, Satoshi said to her, "For real, Maia, today is _the day before we're to depart_, not_ the_ _day to depart_. Seriously, what are you panicking about?"

"We have so many things to pack-"

"-You, not me, I only pack important stuff."

"The food, the drinks, the no-vomit pills-"

"No-vomit pills?"

"-the pillows-"

"Seriously, Maia, we're not moving houses."

"-the map, torchlight, sleeping bags-"

"Drop the sleeping bags; we don't need them since we're going to live in a 5 star hotel."

"-and good sneakers and socks!"

"You seem to forget your clothes."

"Clothes? Don't we wear school uniforms?"

Rolling his eyes again, Satoshi said to her, "Honestly, Maia, _please_! We're going for a field trip prior to the long holidays we have. We only need to bring our everyday clothes and some basic things like money and torches. Drop the unnecessary items like food and pillows."

Blinking at him (and ignoring the fact that she's half naked standing in front of him), Maia said to him innocently, "Okay, I could drop the pillows, but the food will stay with me. Sleeping bags? Well, okay, I'll drop them along with the pillows since I don't have one yet (Satoshi rolled his eyes), and my clothes…"

He dreaded this moment. Girls are known to pack lots of things, and most of them are makeup kits, mask, blemishes-gone cream and clothes. Seriously, he cannot fathom as to why girls wore skirts to a school field trip, and he bet that Harada Risa's choice in clothing would be pink, pink, PINK! _God! I **hate**_ _pink!_ Thought Satoshi.

"I think I'm just going to pack a couple of T-shirts and shorts since its summer. Oh, and sports bra too."

Satoshi temporarily paused to rewind what Maia had said inwardly. Unsure whether his ears are playing tricks on him or not, he strives to confirm what she had really said.

"Come again?"

Maia stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Well, I think I just said, 'I think I'm just going to pack a couple of T-shirts and shorts since its summer. Oh, and sports bra too,' if my memory serves me well."

"You mean…no skirts?" Satoshi started. He inwardly gulped when Maia turned her head back to him slowly. He dreaded the moment when she would finally speak, for she stared at him with her wide eyes, looking ready to attack him.

"**_What do you mean by skirt_**?" said Maia in a very low tone, every one of her words slow and dripped with unsaid dangers and warnings. Once again, Satoshi gulped inwardly when he sees Maia's eyes practically bulging from their sockets in shock.

"Erm…" Satoshi sweat dropped.

Maia exclaimed at the top of her voice, making sure that Satoshi still has his eyes on her, "The hell I would wear _skirts_ to a field trip." She said, saying the word 'skirt' as if they're a sort of disease and by the sheer word and thought of it disgust her. "_Skirts_ are the worst sort of clothing ever made for girls! They're dangerous, they're not safe, and they made rapist's work much faster and efficient! I. DON'T. LIKEY. SKIRTS!"

Satoshi flinched at the word 'rapist', and yet raised his eyebrows at one of the many peculiar wordings of Maia's dictionary. _Likey?_

"So, basically, you're going to dress as…?"

Again, Maia repeated that slow head-turning and used that extremely low and dangerous tone to speak to him, "**_What do you mean by 'dress as…'_**? Of course I'm going to dress myself in shorts and T-shirts! God knows how those girls back there like that weak Harada twin- what's the name? Lisa or something…"

"I believe its Harada Risa."

"Yeah, whatever that cow shit's name is (Satoshi raised his eyebrows at the latter). Trust me, I'm going to play a prank on her if she wears a skirt to the field trip."

Grinning slightly, Satoshi said, "And what kind of prank, pray tell?"

Tapping a finger on her chin (Satoshi rolled his eyes and wrapped her half-naked form with one of the jackets he grabbed from his wardrobe.) "Well, let's see. I could always tell her that you asked her to prepare herself for you and that you require her to have a vibrator inside her for the whole day so as to make the work easy."

Immediately, Satoshi's head snapped up and flared in panic. "Hell no! Drop that suggestion! Don't you dare tell anyone about what you want to tell her about the- what the- vibrator or something! Just don't you dare!"

Shrugging when Satoshi refused to agree on her first prank on Risa, Maia thought for another one, "Well, I could always go to stuffing a worm in her panties. God knows what kind of panties that kind of girls wear. Maybe lace I think, lots of lace, considering as she's the biatch type."

This time, Satoshi kept quiet. Moments later, Maia broke the silence and hopped around in place, feeling rather excited. Satoshi had somehow forgotten a few buttons on Maia's shirt, and with her hopping around the place, the shirt had slipped off her shoulder a little and exposed her naked top. Satoshi immediately averted his eyes from her half-naked form by looking up the ceiling.

"Oh! I know I know! Let's throw her luggage to the sea and let's see what she would wear. Oh! I'm so excited just by thinking about this!"

* * *

_The next day…_

Well, it's not really named as Love Island, but since most couples came here for honeymoon and couples spending _quality _time together (we all know what couples tend to do when they _think_ they're alone, right?), the island original name is slowly forgotten by people and be replaced by what we today know it as Love Island.

The teachers are not supposed to explain and bring students to such places containing such _vulgarly-_displayed places things like public make-out (since it was viewed as rude), but since that island is the perfect place for bugs hunting and mountain tracking (there's no mountain, really, but there're just very high hills.) and forest expedition, the principle, reluctantly, agreed. But right before they departed for the ship that was supposed to bring them to that island (the students have to take their attendants in school first before they depart for the port), the principle came hurrying from his office and gave a warning to each and every one of them (by glaring intently) to not smear the good name of Azumano High School by doing anything they're not suppose to do during a class trip (he also wriggled his eyebrows knowingly at them).

Everyone was cheering happily. Even from afar people could hear the loud excited chatters of 30 students from class 3-B, and everyone was wondering what would made a group of 30 students that happy. Happy because they're able to board the ship? Maybe. Then, the destination? Absolutely. In fact, the girls were glancing and blushing whenever they caught the boys' eyes, and likewise, the boys. And is there any exception? Certainly. Who are they? Well, who else if it's not the Supreme Commander and the new student? Satoshi was putting up his I-don't-care façade, while Maia, looking as miserable as if she had lost her lover, pondered the time left for her to feel grounds on her feet instead of floating on the ocean on a huge piece of structured metal. It was approximately 10 minutes left.

"Okay class? Everybody ready to leave?"

Everyone reply with such vigor that the teacher was surprised by the loud commotion, of course, only two people didn't cheer with them.

Previously, Satoshi had tried to help Maia get any kind of permission just so that she could be excused from the trip, but nothing he says works against the class teacher. Miss Lee was known for her 'education is everything!' and would not accept any excuses other than a really severe case like heart disease or fatal allergies to flower pollens.

"This is a very important trip. We are going to study about bugs, and nature, and most important of them all is summer. The joy of summer, the joy of the heat, the sand, the sparkling sea water, and, of course, for boys, there would be a spectacular sight of bikini's display and for girls, spa-" the teacher briefly paused to let the effect of her words sink in. Girls start to giggle excitedly while the boys face started to glow like a burning torch. Smiling, the Miss Lee continued, "Well, all of those wonderful things could be done after we settle down in our hotel reservations," pausing to see the happy cheer of the students, again, Miss Lee continued, "_after _our expeditions." The effect was marvelous. Everyone groaned in disappointment, but nonetheless, since Miss Lee had said about when they could do all those wonderful things like what normal people does during summer vacation and holidays, they cheered up soon after.

The ship that they are to board hooted loudly, telling everyone that it is time to depart for the island and leave land behind for 3 hours.

"Cheer up, Maia." Said Satoshi blatantly. He was amused greatly when he knew why Maia dreaded this trip. It would seems to anyone that she has a phobia of traveling on water, but in fact, it was the whole point that it took them 3 hours worth of travel just to get there to the _blasted_ island, or so that's what Maia labeled it as. Maia had a knack of rejecting any trip that lasted longer than 1 hour, and when the ship hooted loudly, Maia gave out a wail of distress, which no one heard but Satoshi, who was standing right beside her (well, Maia was crouching actually, and Satoshi was standing beside her.)

"Okay, class, before we begin our journey, there are certain rules to obey. First, there will be two people in a group, one boy one girl, and I want no funny things to happen, and don't give me the 'raging hormones' and all the crap, understand?" Miss Lee begin, and when she came to the part where there are only two people in a group and the obvious fact about the partners that were assigned since ages ago were of different genders, many tried to feign looking innocent. "Second, is that whenever we're in expeditions or taking attendants or going up a bus or sitting in a cabin on the ship, you are to be with your partner at all times, and you will support each other. Are we clear?" everyone nodded.

"Well then, let's go on board. Oh, and Hiwatari-kun? From now on you are paired up with Akihiko-san, and that includes during PE classes," _and with her around, our class will no longer be of odd numbers and Hiwatari-kun can never again make any excuses of avoiding PE classes_, Miss Lee thought. Then again, it was Hiwatari-kun that always told her with a stoic expression by simply saying 'I don't have a partner.' _Really, that boy is just sometimes too stubborn. Good thing I have good controls or I might just find myself flying a hand to that smart mouth. This time, let's see what excuses you could come up._

When Miss Lee announced to _everyone _that he is to be partnered with Maia from now on, timidly, Maia looked up to Satoshi, who, previously being nonchalantly (but he raised his eyebrows in surprise when Miss Lee mentioned about him being partnered with Maia, _inwardly_), but discerning that Maia was looking up at him from below (she was still crouching), he looked down at her (and was greatly amused when he saw how shock, or surprise, or timid, or horrified, or whatever that has the combination of each expression mentioned she looked.), and smiled for a- aha! That look. (Maia's eyes widened) That_ funny_ look (Satoshi realize that whenever she looked like that, it fueled his amusement.)

Risa had protested right after Miss Lee announced for she wanted to be Satoshi's partner, saying some crap that it's only fair, but Miss Lee told her hotly that she could change her partner, only if her partner died, but that would mean Maia had to die too in order for Risa and Satoshi to be partnered up.

"Why lose 2 lives for one when you already have one good enough to be wrapped around your little fingers?" said Miss Lee, ignoring the angry looks and glares that Risa had gave her, feeling contented to stare at Satoshi, who was, by any chance, looked quite_ alive_ than his usual statue-like stance. Risa's partner is Saehara the noisy news reporter in school, and quite frankly, he was the only one (apart from Satoshi and after a while, Niwa Daisuke) unaffected by her flirtatious nature and ridiculous demanding (though sometimes he did obey her demanding, but that was way back when she was with Dark, and after she was, dare I say it, **_dumped_** by Dark for being too self-centered, he has ceased to _obey_ her _commands_.)

Class 3-B walk the planks- no, sorry, get onboard of the ship slowly, the sound of their chatters seems to get louder as they boarded the ship. For more comical effects, Miss Lee unintentionally draws the attention of the entire class by shouting from the ship, "Hiwatari and Akihiko are you coming by yourself or am I going to drag you up onboard myself?"

Satoshi, he inwardly admit (hell would be sunny and good weathered should he ever admit it out loud) that being partnered with Maia has its good, and that included the bad as well. He was having a tough time trying to coax Maia up onboard, and when she refused him for the 15th time, his patience ran out. Pulling her up from her crouching position, Satoshi dragged her towards the ship by pulling on her backpack (frowning when he felt a loud crunching sound), making her walk backwards (since this was the only way she cannot walk properly and that would made her attempt to escape by giving crappie excuses null and void.)

"Arch! Let me go you blue-haired _smarty_! Let go! I _said_, let go!"

"Fat chance," said Satoshi in monotone, continuing to drag her towards the ship.

"You're going to die if you don't let go of me," said Maia warningly.

"Like hell I would, the ship's going," still in monotone, Satoshi basked in the glory of finally getting closer to the ship.

"I'll make sure your remaining life in high school's a nightmare, and I'll embarrass you at any given opportunity, and I'll hide all your swimming trunks and force you to swim in school, _stark_ _naked_."

"I'll tell everyone you work in a pub, and I'll tell everyone, and maybe your family, that you have been indulging in wine and do_ funny_ things with a person you barely known for a week."

Maia kept quiet after that (she was really thinking her next words), earning Satoshi an all too satisfied smirk on his handsome features. Then, something clicked in Maia's head. That something's a brilliant plan against someone like him.

Dropping limp and let Satoshi drag her full weight, Maia said in monotone, "I'm hungry."

Feeling his burden getting heavy all of a sudden, he put in more strength and pulled her harder, replying her in a matter-of-factly voice, "You can eat later on the ship."

"Carry me."

"Walk on your own feet."

"Let me walk on my own then."

"Absolutely not."

"I'm going to fart."

"Be my gues- wait, are you serious?"

"I think so."

"Which way is it?"

"Both." Maia said cheekily.

Rolling his eyes, he forcefully dragged her onboard (right after the teacher said "Okay everyone, it's free time and you can do your activities.) and hauled her none too gently to a place where no one is bound to walk by.

"Go on and fart all you want."

"You seriously believe that piece of crap I came up with?"

"What would you do if I say yes?"

"Well, if it's yes, then I wouldn't need to wreak my brain for another piece of crap since it came naturally, and if it's a no, then, I guess I don't have the talent to use my brain, rather, my brain uses me."

"You're completely impossible."

"I know that don't I?"

Unbeknownst to them, hiding by the corner is Saehara, the supposedly famed reporter of class B that failed each and every time just trying to take Dark's photo. This time, when he heard the way Hiwatari and the new pretty girl, Akihiko, quarreled, his constantly-alert and extremely-observant attitude made his eyes widen and ears flap. Both of them argue just like a couple, and both of them acts just like a couple, and both are beautiful people, just like a couple.

"They're in love!" whispered Saehara unbelievably. Hiwatari was known to be rather cool and the background statue as every single approach from girls was declined, saying the all-too-famous phrase of his, "I have more important things to do than love." Grinning from ear to ear, Saehara mused to himself, "It's high time that you get yourself a girl from all the work and stress, Hiwatari-kun..." In fact, Saehara was calculating the odds that maybe he'll be a little bit merciful after getting himself a girl and would allow him to enter the grounds where Dark is suppose to steal artworks, and he'll hide in a corner to catch his photo red handed. If possible, his grin grows wider that his jaws are in danger of splitting from his skull.

"Which girl?" said a voice behind him, in fact, that voice was so soft and silent that he thought was the wind blowing his words in his head around him, so, by sheer reflex, he answered them.

"Akihiko Maia of course! Who else! I mean, look at her, she's prettier than Risa, she's smarter and possibly standing right behind Hiwatari in ranks of intelligence, and plus, she's a smart mouth too. I couldn't imagine how, when and in what way she would explode and throw every piece of insult she knew to whomever that ticked her off. But I'm sure it would be a fearsome sight to behold."

"Then, would Risa win in terms of popularity?"

"I doubt it highly. Risa would win, for a start, but once the school gets to know that there's a new smart and pretty girl in our class, her popularity rate would skyrocketed and gone right through the stratosphere. Risa, by that time, obviously, would have no chance whatsoever.

"Oh? So you're saying I'm a sore loser then?"

Saehara, if the possible terms of 'jumping out of his skin in surprise' works, he would have been a dead man a few minutes ago instead of still feeling his heart beat faster than ever. He realizes that the 'voice' he had been speaking to is not his subconscious mind making up the questions and there, crouching behind him, looking as if she has readied herself to launch a series of murdering technique at him, is his partner-in-crime back when Dark still favors her, but since he dumped her, now no longer his partner-in-crime, is his partner during PE and many expeditions.

There, emitting dark flames and looking murderous, was Harada Risa.

Saehara gave a small squeak (which sounded like a loud 'EEEK!') and immediately set to find any means of escape, even if it means jumping off the sea. Harada Risa is not to be taken easily when she was practically _blazing_ with extremely concentrated dark flames.

Before he could get away from her (even for a few meters away from her), Risa had wrapped a death grip on the back of his uniform, preventing him to perform his all-too-infamous escapade (which he had done whenever he felt something threatening the safety of his long-term faithful and loyal camera and video cam.)

Before Risa or Saehara could utter another word, an all-too-familiar voice said in an almost monotone-d tone, "What in the world are you two doing?"

"Playing hide-and-seek and Harada-san had found Saehara-san and that he doesn't want to admit that he had lost in such a simple-minded game and proceeds to escape to find another hiding place pretending that he was never founded at the first place but then Harada-san's death grip gripped his uniform thus preventing him from escaping?" Maia wondered. Satoshi sweat dropped and sighed in defeat. Sometimes, he wondered if Maia's head is truly that stupid (actually, it was 'innocent' instead of 'stupid', but Satoshi doesn't want to admit it). It was clear that Saehara had heard their argument, and to top it off, he was sweating from the insides of his shirt.

_God, please let Saehara to be stupid this time._

It is as if God has heard Satoshi's prayers. "Yeah! We're playing hide-and-seek with Futaba-san and Daisuke. Wanna join! Aha…ahahaha!" Saehara replied, satisfying the curious looks that Satoshi and Maia had gave both Risa and himself. Saehara had long since feared the Supreme Commander for he does everything and used many unknown and vile methods just so he could get a perfect picture of Dark, and once, he was nearly caught by Satoshi when he sneaked around the school's information room and peeked at Satoshi's private files. From then on, Satoshi always gave him the look that says 'I know what you did last time'.

* * *

_10 minutes later…_

"Whatever happen to those two?" said a random student taking a tour around the ship.

To all those sitting near Maia and Satoshi, it was a bizarre scene to witness. The normally quiet and cool and calm and collected Satoshi actually spends 10 minutes bickering with his partner, Maia, and the topic of choice on their bickering is, God help me, what junk food has an effect on human's health.

"Seriously, all those monosodium glutamate you just swallowed would make one practically ballooning up-"

Tired of his constant advice on the effect of junk food on human's body, Maia rolled her eyes and said, "But it _practically_ does nothing to me, and I can eat whatever junks I want-"

Realizing that Maia repeated one of his words purposefully, Satoshi replied to her. "_Practically_, cordial juice and coke are equals to tens of spoons of sugar, and you're _practically_ swallowing them in one go-"

_You wanna fight? Let's fight_, thought Maia. "I'm _practically_ thirsty. I _practically_ prefer 100plus myself, but then it's _practically_ been ages since I have a coke, so I_ practically_ ditched 100plus, well,_ practically_ for a while really."

"So_ practically_ that small bag of yours just now is your clothing and stuff, while this bag here-" Satoshi said, pointing towards the large, I repeat, _large_ bag that currently has their contents all but spilling out everywhere; near Satoshi's and Maia's feet, between their seats, beside Satoshi, and under the seats of Satoshi and Maia, "-is _practically_ your_ secret_ _supplies _I suppose?"

Maia looked at him as if he's teaching her the basics of ABC. "_Well,_ of course they are! What do you think they are? _Skirts?_ _Makeup?_ _Condoms? Hair-curling iron!_ Oh, for **_God's sake_**, who in their right mind wants those _silly_ things on a _trip_?" (Maia remained ignorant throughout the trip with Risa's practically fuming and going-to-erupt Risa behind her seat)

"You're _practically_ a glutton, Maia."

"Just _practically_ go to sleep already, Sato-kun!" Everyone was like '_Sato-kun!'_(Risa's eyes widened. The nerve of that girl! Dare to call my Satoshi-kun in that affectionate way! You're challenging me, Akihiko!)

"You're _practically_ munching and making noises like a pig (Maia: "HEY!") starved for a good 3 days before their meals."

Rolling her eyes, Maia replied, "This is called high metabolism you smarty four-eyes! It's not my fault if I have high metabolism! I have to satisfy my hunger or I'll _practically_ go insane! And look at what you did to my cookies! They're powder and in pieces! Look!" Maia promptly thrust a whole packet of pineapple-flavored cookies right at Satoshi's face, whom ignored it by smartly pushing up his spectacles.

"And_ practically_ those chocolates." Satoshi smartly changed topics, having noticed a great amount of chocolate bars in her bag. "Do you have any idea what chocolate does to our health?"

Ignoring him, Maia wrapped the crushed cookies and put it back into her bag. Fishing out a bar of Black Forest chocolate, she munched them as if they're cookies. "All I know is that **_practically_** Cacao beans does great things to our health. Oh! Here's a good one! Here, say 'ah~'."

"What makes you think I would say 'Ah'-"

Maia stuffed a chunk of chocolate in Satoshi's mouth.

"Chocolate contributes great things to our health in adequate amount, and it does make one feel like being in love- well, more like _drunk _in love, so it's perfect for you since you don't smile a lot. So, _smile_!"

Satoshi blinked once, twice. Then his face started to heat up a little, eyes drooped a little, then smiled at Maia in a way that his smile practically sparkled with blinding light. (Maia was practically bursting with pride that she managed to make him smile.) Then his head dropped abruptly and landed on Maia's shoulder. (Maia's smile freezes on her face.)

Everyone is in danger of losing their eyebrows in their hairlines. (Risa fumed in anger.)

"KYAAAAA! AKIHIKO-SAN IS SOOOOO LUCKY! HIWATARI-KUN IS SOOOO CUTE!" (Saehara managed to capture the entire moment in his video cam, while Daisuke sweat dropped with Dark. Maia? She rolled her eyes at those girls that screamed.) It would seem that the chocolates have a rather peculiar effect on Satoshi.

Maia tried to poke him awake, but he won't budge. She then tried to lift his head off her shoulder, but his head is shockingly heavy (not to mention that the intoxicating smell of his manly perfume, as Maia called that, made her head swam a little.). Out of more brilliant ideas to heave his head off her with style, Maia shrugged and lean back to her seat, waiting for the moment for him to find out in horror that everyone saw what he had done; sleeping on a girl's shoulder.

* * *

_2 Hours and 45 minutes later…_

"Saehara-san, I don't think this is a good idea…" said a red-head timidly, tugging at the end of his uniform nervously in fear of having to face the consequences that they- well, Saehara practically dragged Daisuke with him and appointed him his new partner in crime- would be caught red handed at doing what Saehara is doing.

The famous nosy reporter is capturing pictures of a sleeping pair of partner. To be precise, it is Akihiko Maia the new student that is pretty and smart and is Satoshi's constant bickering partner and the one and only person known to ever make Satoshi roll his eyes that breaks Saehara's record and make him smile and; Hiwatari Satoshi the cool Supreme Commander of Azumano Police Department who is the much sought after young adult in the entire Azumano-Chou and is the mortal enemy of Dark Mousy the one that_ dumped_ Harada Risa.

Those two are soundly sleeping; Satoshi still had his head on Maia's shoulder while Maia leaned her head against Satoshi's blue mop of hair. Saehara had not minded the weird position, but he was hoping that Maia would be the one that has her head on Satoshi's shoulder and that Satoshi's head leaned on Maia's head. _That, I tell you, would be the greatest picture of Hiwatari Satoshi I have ever taken in my entire life! Oh, just imagining what his face would be like if I made this the wallpaper of the school's computer room! Haha! I **love** my life!_

"Saehara-san! Let's go before they wake up!" hushed Daisuke, sweating like mad.

"Hell no! This here-" Saehara gestured towards the sleeping pair, "-is a rare chance and won't let this chance slip by again." Saehara remembered 2 years ago the trip to one island Satoshi too, slept through the journey, and he didn't get a chance to get his picture because Risa is basically fuming beside him. He shivered at the thought of a fuming Risa. Nobody would want to face a fuming Risa, they value their lives more…

A sudden shifting sound freezes two of the partner in crimes currently standing in front of the shifting sleeping pair. Saehara's eyes widened in fear as he saw Satoshi shifted, preparing himself for the dreaded blue eyes to open. After 10 seconds, nothing happen.

"Mmm…you smell great…" Maia slurred in her sleep.

Shifting his head to get a more comfortable position, Satoshi slurred along with Maia, "You smell great too…"

Both of the 'criminals' raised their eyebrows as high as possible. Daisuke remained in that position, while Saehara broke out to a wide idiotic grin.

"Ya heard that Daisuke! Ya heard that! They commented that both of them smelled nice! Such scandal for the Supreme Commander! Great work buddy!"

"Shut up…" slurred Satoshi and Maia together. Saehara realized that he had used a rather high voice to said his words, so he clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from blurting out another string of I-told-you-so. Hopping around in place, Saehara shake Daisuke.

"I told ja! I told ja! There's something between them! They're real!"

"Saehara-san, I felt dizzy…"

"Shutup…" slurred Risa sleepily. Everyone else is practically screaming with excitement out at the deck of the ship, all but Satoshi and Maia and Risa, whom have their own particular reasons to stay behind; Satoshi wanted to sleep and it was a bother to walk around the ship, Maia had her fill of food and fell asleep with the smooth breeze ruffling her hair while Risa- well, she…preferred to stay back and- dare I say it? _Spy_ on both Satoshi and Maia, but halfway through the spying she fell asleep.

Saehara freezes again. This time, he doesn't make another noise. He feared Risa more than anyone, and he preferred to keep quiet about things that'll make her go 'SAEHARA TAKASHIIII!'. He shivered at the thought.

Quietly, he continued his picture snapping of Satoshi and Maia. Both of them are now in the position that Saehara had wanted; Satoshi leaning on Maia's head, Maia's head rested upon Satoshi's shoulder. Both of them had a peaceful look on their face, with the sea breeze occasionally ruffled both of their hair fondly. Daisuke smiled serenely at both of them, and once more, freezes when he notices a pair of hand inched closer to Satoshi's spectacles.

"Saehara-san!" whispered Daisuke to Saehara loudly, who hushed him off and continuing his little 'crime'. When his finger came into contact with his spectacles, he withdrawer immediately, spec in one hand, Saehara smiled victoriously.

"There! That should look more like it!" said Saehara, proceeding to snap a few pictures out of this rare occasion.

"Looks more like it?" Daisuke said in confusion. Only after realizing that Saehara had Satoshi's spectacles in one hand (Daisuke was too scared to meet Satoshi's eyes should he awake to find Saehara ready to pluck his spectacles from his eyes, so he look other ways.) did he understand what he's talking about.

The pair of slumbering partner fitted together quite well; in fact, they look very much like a pair of slumbering couple.

The ship's hooted loudly, waking everybody from their slumber, shocking both the partners in crime and jolting everyone from their seats. Saehara and Daisuke both bear the witness of what happened right in front of their eyes (and widening their eyes to the extent that they look very much as if their eyeballs are going to fall out soon); Eyes closed, Satoshi kissed Maia.

And after a few lick and jaw-flexing against her lips, he broke away from her.

"You're addicting…" whispered Satoshi into Maia's ear, loud enough for both Daisuke and Saehara to hear. Grasping the end of her long braided ponytail, he kissed her hair lovingly. Maia was still, for God's sake, in a daze so sleepy that in anytime soon, she was going to fall back to sleep. As a matter of fact, it is highly possible that she did not realize what had just happened.

Standing up from his seat beside Maia, Satoshi walked towards the now frozen Saehara and Daisuke statue. Patting Saehara on the shoulders (and ignoring the way he twitched and winced as if his hands are iron hot), Satoshi whispered into his ear (but make it loud enough for Daisuke too), "Should I ever heard anyone talking about what happened just now, I'll make sure you'll never see the living daylights again."

Saehara shivered in fear; Daisuke merely sweat dropped and smiled at Satoshi (Satoshi knew he was trustworthy enough to not betray him.)

Well, Satoshi had long known that Saehara had possibly gained a crush on Maia, seeing as this few days in school were all but 'Look over here, Akihiko-chan!', or 'Smile, Akihiko-chan!'. For a second when Saehara added the –chan suffix in Maia's surname, it flared up a strange feeling in him, but when Maia evaded every single one of his picture snapping, Satoshi's strange feeling disappeared and was replaced by sheer amusement. Seeing Saehara wailed about how each and every one of his effort in snapping a picture of Maia (to be secretly put into his wallet) was an absolute failure; the end of Maia's hair, a palm blocking most of the picture, very blur picture, or a spray of water coming his way. None of his tactics worked, well, he rejoiced a little when he caught both Satoshi and Maia's picture, but sighed intently when Satoshi kissed her right in front of his eyes.

After quietly snatching back his spectacles from Saehara's breast pocket, Satoshi smiled at him. Still holding his gaze, he slipped his spectacles back to his eyes and walked towards where their bags are supposed to be (and inwardly sighed when he realize that he had to help Maia take her luggage too, but rejoiced since she only brought one luggage.)

"Okay, chi- class (she was close to calling them 'children' but knew what an uproar they would make should she address them as 'children') 3-B! Listen up!" chirped Miss Lee happily, glad that they're finally on land and on their destination. Now, line up and take your luggage according to your names, oh, and since there's two people in a group, partners, of course, the boys, would help the girls to take their luggage."

Some groaned in distress (Saehara and some of the boys that is known to have a partner that tends to bring lots of luggage, like Risa's group of friends.), some acting nonchalantly (Satoshi and Daisuke and a rare circle of boys) and some wagged their imaginary tails with sparkly eyes (basically, the girl's self-appointed servant). Some hopped in happiness (Risa and her group of friends), some raising their eyebrows (Riku Harada and Maia, finally deciding to wake up) and some gave pitiful looks to the boys (a very rare group of good and shy and kind girls).

Now that everyone had their arms full of luggage (poor Saehara had his back practically piled up with luggage belonged to Risa while Satoshi grinned at him, showing him two of the luggage in each of his hand he now hold one of which belonged to him, who looked away angrily.), Miss Lee brought them to the hotel for the booked rooms and announced that it is free activity until 7pm for dinner. All of them cheered.

Well, to say it was sheer coincidental, one may not believe it should I tell you this. In one way or another, Satoshi and Daisuke's (as room partners) room are directly above Maia and Riku (as room partners) while Risa, who heard the wrong information about the room arrangement, ended up with Saehara Takeshi and one of his friends below her room while having one of her girly friends as room partners. Nobody knows why the twins ended up in different rooms, but nobody cared since none of them objected. (Riku wanted to be with Daisuke while Risa wanted to be with her girly friends so that each of them could help each other curl the other's hair into a Medusa-like hairstyle.)

Risa had (Maia: "The nerve of that _girl!_!) knocked upon Satoshi and Daisuke's room, and when Daisuke opened the door, she merely muttered a 'Hi' towards Daisuke without looking at him and marched into both Daisuke and Satoshi's room as if it was perfectly fine, well, at least when she marched into the short corridor of their room.

"Ne, **_Sato-kun~_**! Today's a great weather, let's go swimming!" said Risa, making sure that she had called out Satoshi with the nickname that Maia called him loud enough so as to catch his attention.

Behind the room, Satoshi's eyebrows twitched in annoyance, for long ago, one week to be exact, he had somehow gotten accustomed with Maia calling him 'Sato-kun' or 'Blue-haired smarty', but hearing another high-pitched voice calling him with the nickname that Maia came up herself, he felt strange. Somehow, he doesn't like the way Risa called him with that nickname. He didn't like it.

"Ne Sato-kun~? Are you listening?" said Risa, striding towards the end of the room. (Another reason why Satoshi didn't like Risa. _She's so demanding that ever question of hers must be answered in the time limit of 5 seconds or else she'll just raise her voice to a higher pitch. God knows how Saehara could bear her for 3 whole years as his partner._)

"Harada-san…it's really not a good time now to visit him…" said Daisuke timidly, sweat-dropping when Risa glared at him.

"Go away Harada, I'm busy," said Satoshi from behind the room as calmly as he could, quietly seething in anger.

"But **_I'm_** not busy, so its fine for the both of us right? Come on, don't be a meanie!" whined Risa in a sickly sweet tone.

"I told you, _I'm busy_," said Satoshi, his tone changed slightly for the suppressed anger, greatly annoyed that Risa won't comply with his wishes to be alone for the moment.

"Sato-kun! Friends should flock with friends and idiots should flock with idiots-" suddenly grown quiet for a split second, Risa make an innocently cute face (although Satoshi was inside the bathroom) and continued, "Lovers should flock with lovers…"

When Satoshi didn't reply her, Risa took it upon her that it means he's agreeing to her. Smiling widely, Risa opened the bathroom, but someone stopped her before she could.

Seething in anger, Risa stared face to face with the intruder. Akihiko Maia, smirking down at Risa, who was half a head shorter than Maia herself (Satoshi is taller than Maia a head)

"Ne, Harada-san, don't you realize who's room you're in?"

"Why are yo-"

"This is the boy's room, and this door you're going to open is the bathroom."

"This is no-"

"So as to say, you're bothering Satoshi taking his bath."

Risa blinked, trying to sink in those words.

Adding fuel to the fire just to see her reaction (because to Maia, Risa's expression is hilarious), Maia added, "By now, he must've have rubbed himself _all over_ with fragrant and _slippery _soap, of course, standing under the shower _buck naked_, and you're just about to burst in and meet him, _buck naked_. Tell me then, what would he think of you? A peeping tom perhaps? Or something else?"

As if planned ahead, the sounds of water and shower and the scent of fragrant soap wafted through their ears and nose. Instantly, Risa's face heated up. Seconds later, she's gone, leaving behind wisp of dust and soot (imaginary ones of course, but it did send Daisuke's and Maia's hair flying.)

Maia laughed out loud seeing Risa's face as red as a monkey in distress, clutching Daisuke's arms and feverishly waving them at the direction where Risa had practically zoomed out of the room.

"Hahaha! Did you see that Niwa? Hahaha! Her face is read as a monkey's butt! Hahaha!"

"Akihiko-san…" sweat-dropped Daisuke.

Instantly, Maia turned her almost-disappearing eyes into a glare fixed intently upon Daisuke, "Maia des."

"Eto…Akihi-"

"Maia des," glared Maia.

"Maia-san…"

"That's better."

"What's better?"

Frozen in her stance, Maia briefly managed to catch a whiff of vanilla scented soap (which practically made her drooled remembering an excellent vanilla ice cream float somewhere near Satoshi and her apartment) before realizing that Daisuke had taken the privilege to leave the room quietly and fast, locking the door behind him for the convenient conversation that Maia and Satoshi is about to have. (and to not bother them…he knows how scary Satoshi's glare could turn to, and he didn't want to sleep with a cold prickling feeling at his neck knowing that Satoshi is glaring at him.)

"Now that we're alone, care to tell me how did you managed to come into this room without using the door?" said Satoshi, inching closer to her and using his hand to gently caress her face from behind.

Knowing that Satoshi is towering behind her, Maia can't help but to feel slightly overpowered. She hated being short (shorter than Satoshi that is), she hated being the second (because Satoshi is basically the smartest kid in Azumano-Chou), and she hated feeling herself shivered like that (because her hand itched to grab his blue mop of hair and stroke them to her hearts content. She loved blue.), especially in front of him.

"The windows…" Maia breathed a sigh of relief as she accomplish the 'mission' that she had decided for herself one week ago; no stuttering or jabbering or gibbering in front of Blue-haired smarty, and the only way to prevent that to ever happen, is to speak in short sentence, preferably 'yes' or 'no' or 'no idea'.

"So, the _windows_. Tell me then, you do realize that swinging down from the third floor like a _monkey_ coming to the _rescue_ _irks_ me more than when you stuff that piece of chocolate into my mouth?"

Sweating slightly from tension, Maia blurted out, "No I don't."

Satoshi raised his eyebrows behind her. Grinning in triumph for finally getting her to drop directly into the trap he had laid, Satoshi added something further that made her eyes go wide as a saucer, "And I believe you know full well that I am _stark_ naked with nothing but a towel…"

Yep. Game over. Maia blushed and eyes wide as saucer, and trembling. Satoshi win.

As he was closing over to seduce her, a slight bang jolted them awake from their little 'game.

"Okay boys! I don't care what you're doing and what you're going to do later, just pack your bags and were your hiking attire, coz we're going hiking and all plans and free time are canceled! I'll explain further once you've come down to the hall- no, not the hall, the lobby, the lobby! Sorry! Just pack and come down in 10 minutes!"

BANG! THUMP! THUMP! Thump! Thump, thump, thump…

Both of them, with their eyes wide open, frozen in their current place to stare at the door where their teacher, Miss Lee, just shouted through with her eyes scanning a piece of paper with loads and loads of names on it.

Finally gathering what's left of her consciousness from shock, Maia stuttered out what she had been itching to say from the moment Miss Lee came through the door.

"Thi- This- This is a boy's floor-"

"Yes."

"-and I'm a girl-"

"Obviously."

"-and that's Miss Lee…"

"Can't deny it…"

Realization struck them like a thunder struck a monkey, sending both of them flying for the door before Satoshi grabbed her in time and hissed, "This is the boy's floor Maia you idiot! (Whipping her head around, Maia glared at him: "Tch! I'm not an idiot!") Wait for me and I'll bring you out!"

Apparently, Maia realized in time about that too, but she did not wait for him. Before he could pull a pants on, she was gone, leaving the curtain of his and Daisuke's room billowing behind.

"Maia?" Satoshi called out to her stupidly, heart beating loudly against his chest. The strange sound outside the window caught his ears and he, again, after realizing where Maia had disappeared to, scrambled for the large and luxurious balcony fit for Juliet and Romeo's love confessing balcony and looked left and right and- THERE!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE PIPES!" he bellowed out loudly towards the figure clamping her hand and feet around the pipe like a newborn monkey trying to climb for the first time while looking around stupidly, panicking for once in his lifetime.

Maia had wrapped both arms and legs around a thick fat pipe, climbing like a young monkey eager to learn how to climb trees like a human. Her signature ponytail hung behind her head, substituting for a monkey's tail. Steadily raising one arm, she stuck her hand around the pipe above her and heaved herself up like a gecko sticking to the wall with poise.

Hissing, Maia said to the currently panicking Satoshi, "Hush! People would hear us! Now shut up and let me concentrate!"

Realizing his mistake, Satoshi revert to his calm, yet still panicking mode and hissed back, "This is the 2nd floor Maia! You're going up to the 3rd floor using a pipe, for God's sake!"

Speaking through her gritted teeth, Maia said to him, "Trust me, I've done more complicated things than pipe climbing."

"You idiot!" hissed Satoshi.

"I said '_Shut Up_!'"

Taking a deep breath, Satoshi let himself think about the many possibilities of danger now currently enveloping Maia. _If I ran to her floor and threaten the prefects guarding the girls floor,_ thought Satoshi_, I could raise a suspicious profile and, no doubt about that, questions about why I was on the girls floor threatening the prefect to let me pass. But if I ran downstairs and catch her, how would she explain herself about her being outside and all? Anytime soon Miss Lee would have gone up to the girls floor and noticed that one student is missing and that the missing student is sticking up upon the wall like a gecko! _

Before he could decide which method to use, he felt something fly across his head. The feeling was exactly the same as when a bird flies across his head when he takes a walk by the beach. Looking up quickly, he caught the trailing fabric that is the exact same color as Maia's outfit disappearing into the balcony over his head. He froze in anticipation before a cheerily-faced Maia smiled and waved her hand down to him.

Totally ignoring the fact that he practically wore nothing but a thin towel covering his hips, and that it is starting to slip by the minute, Satoshi huffed out loudly and ruffled his hair in exasperation. For the last few days, Maia had gone into a full one-year-worth trouble, and each and every time she emerged from the top of the rubble marked as 'Solved Troubles', she would gave him the very same smile she's giving him now, but not before making him froze for a while in anticipation of 'what's next?' and panic bubbling in every single cell of his body. Everything she has done just made him more nervous about what trouble she would stumble into next, and it's not just for her safety alone; there's Krad as well.


	7. 7: Empress of Empathy, Satoshi's Lover

**7-Empress of Empathy, the lover of Satoshi**

Steadily and calmly coming down the long grand staircase of Hotel LeGardenie, looking very much like a King coming down the stairs of His Highness's palace, Satoshi stopped at the end of the stair and look back to his fair princess, looking very much like a servant-in-waiting.

The truth is, Satoshi waited beside the lift for Maia to come down, preparing to glare at her as much as he could and bury some self-control in her, and when the lift finally let out an annoying and boring 'DING!', he couldn't be more grateful than to stare into a- _**who the hell's that?**_

"Maia?" Satoshi croaked out in surprise. He had expected to encounter a Maia wearing the full gears of jungle tracking, but not this.

Wearing a knee-length white dress and a white ballet flats complete with ribbons around her legs, Maia wore a dark sunglass and kept fidgeting around as if she was nervous. And there's the evident blush on her lovely cheek. Her hair was down and it resumed it's original lovely long dark waves.

"What the hell are you wearing that for?" he started, staring wide eyed at this- this very cute version of Maia. She looked so innocent and…scared and…blushing…could it be that she's shy!

Panic coursing into every vein of blood in her body, Maia stopped fidgeting her body and fidgeted her fingers instead. "It's not my fault that the whole lot of my jungle tracking gears is soaked in water and that there's nothing but this on my table when I got back!"

"What the- wait, you say your jungle tracking stuff is soaked? How did that kind of thing happen anyway?"

"How the hell would I know about it? And it's not just my jungle tracking stuff, my whole wardrobe has disappeared and soaked in the bathtub by the time I came back and nothing but this (gesturing to her current attire) is left! Miss Lee said I should change something since the shirt I wore is dirty with mud."

"Mud? What the- but your clothes are clean the seconds before you go up!"

"Yeah, but apparently somebody took the time to paint mud on the chair that I'm sitting the minute I got up. I _had_ to change."

"It's wonderful of Miss Lee for allowing you to wear that."

Near tears, Maia chocked out, near tears, "It's not a wonder to me! What would the other people say about me when they saw what I wore?"

Seeing Maia pointing to her dress in a disgusted way, Satoshi can't help but to put up a 'I'm thinking' pose and 'scanned' her from top to toe, then toe to top again, then announced his hypothesis, "I could guess what they would say."

Tearing up in embarrassment, Maia held up a hand and said, "Don't. They made me scared."

* * *

To Maia's surprise, everyone in her class, excluding Risa of course, commented on her outfit and saying that it looks good on her, but nobody took pity on her as it is the greatest taboo in her life and she would go all out should someone said they pitied her. Risa looked strangely irritated and angry, and there were smokes spotted coming out of her ear.

Miss Lee had excused Maia off the jungle tracking expedition as she had no other appropriate attire and there are no spare ones for her. The way Miss Lee kept staring at each of her students as if studying them for a crime they have done makes Maia think that maybe the way her whole wardrobe that had dropped into the filled bathtub is no accident and that someone had intended to make her lose her face by wearing something different from others. But whatever that person's goal is, it did not reach that person's target as everyone praised Maia for how good she looks in a dress.

Then, when Miss Lee said all of them have 10 more minutes left to wander around the lobby hall, Satoshi chooses to pull Maia back to the stairs and planned to tell her something and a piece of his mind. He didn't like the idea that Maia had nothing left but a dress left to wear. Truth is, he liked the way how well she looked in that dress, but he didn't like the fact that somebody actually _did_ something to her wardrobe that put her into a situation where she would have no choice but to wear that. He shivered at the many future events that could possibly happen to someone like Maia.

Unbeknown to them, somebody followed them.

Once well apart and well away from earshot, Satoshi gave her a piece of his mind.

"Maia, I want you to stay away from a situation where you will be alone by yourself."

Giving him a puzzled look, Maia said to him, "Why should I do that?"

Closing his eyes in exasperation at Maia's naive thoughts, Satoshi told her the reasons. "Because," he pondered on the thought of telling her and keeping it from her, but decided to brush off the latter and braved himself for the outcome. "- you might be a victim of a stalker."

There's that quizzical look again on her face. "Me?" she said, one hand over her chest, "A victim? Of a stalker?"

Nodding slightly, he replied her, "Most likely."

One eyebrow raised above the other. She kept quiet for a while, eyebrow wrinkled together in a thinking mode and pondered over Satoshi's suggestion. "Strange, I was thinking of jealousy from the girls."

Taken aback, he repeated, "Jealousy? Why is that?"

Maia gave him one of her quizzical look. "Seriously, you don't know what's wrong?"

Blinking quizzically at her (to which he could proudly said that she is the one and only person ever to witness this particular expression of his),"Is there something I don't know here?"

"I mean-" she started, then paused in mid-speech. Realizing what he was asking and what _actually_ made him ask that particular question, she stared at him with an expression that made him somehow regret what he had said; awe. "Wait, you don't know this?"

Satoshi gave her the best blank look he could muster up, hoping silently that she would just ignore this as a random question.

Somehow finding this hard to believe, Maia's eyes widened in awe and said confidently, "I actually know about something that you don't know!"

Still (struggling in fact, because Maia's bewildered look appears to be rather amusing to him) maintaining his blank expression, he assured her in monotone, "I'm sure, Maia, that I'll be very excited to learn about it."

Feeling her chest bursting with pride, Maia puffed out her chest (and missed Satoshi's faint blush as he can't help but to caught the lovely swell of her cleavage) and held out a hand to hold him off of any further vocabularies. "Wait, hold on a second then. Let me bask in my moment of glory. *Takes a deep breath, breath out loudly* this is…this is cool! Awesome, really! I feel as if I'm standing on top of a mountain! Is this how you feel all the time?"

Unaware that one of the veins on his forehead actually popped, Satoshi exclaimed in irritation, "Maia!"

Now, according to most of her classmates, Hiwatari is not one to be angry, but one glare from him, which is nicknamed as 'Hiwatari-kun's Level 1 Rage', will froze one to the very ground they stand for a good 5 minutes, while the 'Hiwatari-kun's Level 5 Rage', which is extremely rare that only his comrades in the Azumano Police Department had ever suffered, is so terrifying that they'd rather took a one week worth holiday and endure the reduced salary than going back the day after they've witnessed 'Hiwatari-kun's Level 5 Rage'. The one and only person known to ever survive this atrocious rage of Satoshi's is none other than Saehara Takashi's father, Saehara Taeko, the current Police Inspector, although he did suffer serious cases of shiver in the presence of Supreme Commander Hiwatari(despite him protesting that it's not true).

Startled by the tone in his voice, Maia once again held out her hand to keep in check of Satoshi's anger. "Okay! Okay! Cut that tone out, you'll hurt my ears!"

Satoshi gave her another look, this time it's the eye rolling one.

"Okay! Here goes my victory, Sato-kun," she started, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, apparently, seeing that you're neither feigning innocent nor pretending to be ignorant about it and that you look odd with that look on your face (Satoshi gave himself a quick scan from the corner of his eye upon the reflective black polished marble on the wall), I would take the huge privilege of telling you something that you had missed the entire time you were with me."

"Well, what is it?"

"You know what most of the girls in Azumano High School wants?"

Satoshi gave her a blank look signifying that it's a stupid question. "Yeah, get themselves a boyfriend."

"No. They wanted you to, well; I must apologize beforehand for the future usage of a foul word, but for the lack of better word for those biatches's wishes drives me into using it, and so, fuck them."

Silence prevail.

"E-excuse me?"

Grinning, Maia explained, "In other words, they want you to take them to bed, and with me, Akihiko Maia, the beauty from the land across the sea," swinging her hand in the air in imaginary glory, "-kept hanging around you and ruining their chances of seducing you, and there's the new rumors that says we are lovers, they got angry and, well, let's just put it that their jealousy got the better of them."

Picking up and finally understanding a little of what she mean by 'jealousy', Satoshi said slowly, "So, you mean to say-"

"SATO-KUN~!" Risa screeched loudly in a sickly sweet voice and popped out of nowhere, enveloping Satoshi's waist with her arms, completely failed to spot Maia and Satoshi cringed at her high pitched voice.

"Harada-san," Satoshi exclaimed in a voice as cold as he could master, "what are you doing?" He tried his best to gently pride her arms off his waist, hoping to drive her away, but to no avail. If possible, he felt as if he's suffocating under her dragging weight.

Smiling as sweet and innocent as she could, Risa looked up, pulling off the round-eyed, innocent and naïve cute little girl look that she knew most boys like and would do anything for someone with a face like that, "Ne, _Sato_-_kun_~ Let's be partners on this jungle tracking expedition~ I heard that they're bugs and spiders in the jungle, and I'm afraid of them~"

However, she miscalculated something. Hiwatari Satoshi of the Azumano Police Department is no '_most boys'. _

Rolling her eyes, Maia said ironically, defending Satoshi fiercely. "Isn't Saehara _your_ partner? And in case your memory fails you, Sato-kun is _my_ partner for any activity involving _two_ or more people."

Frowning hideously, Risa's incredibly thick makeup cracked right in the middle of her frown, which she didn't realize for she was boiling in rage at the- the damn girl standing in between her beloved Satoshi and herself. "What are you anyway?" she accused dangerously, pink-painted fake nails pointing at Maia. "You're just a nuisance little thorn trying to break us up!" quickly resuming her innocent-and-cute tone, she turned her attention towards Satoshi, batting her fake eyelashes at him, "Right Sato-kun~?"

Satoshi resisted the urge to hurl right then and there at the sight of her cracked makeup. If only someone would come in and drag her away-

"Could you please let go of him?" said Maia suddenly in a dangerous tone, her skin turned a strange shade of pure livid; flushing in anger. "He's _suffocating_ under your _death_ of a grip."

"Just what are you anyway!" said Risa, unconsciously repeated what she had said earlier for her lack of offensive terminology. "You're just here for- what? Not even a month and you've _dared_ to grab what's best for me! Sato-kun and I are made for each other, and a slut like you should stay away from us! We're good without you!"

"Harada!" Satoshi come back with an angry reply upon hearing Risa insulted Maia. He had tried biting back his angry feelings for her complete inquisitiveness in his life. To top it off, she had been telling _**garbage**_ to everyone she met, saying how he _loved_ to see her in pink and how he had lovingly caressed her face, which is a whole load of crap since he had never touched her nor talked to her unless it's urgent or important.

Risa widened her eyes in surprise and let go of Satoshi, purposefully letting her extremely sharp nails run along his wrist, scratching him. Never had anyone dared to raise their voice to her, no, not even her parents or her twin sister, Riku. Now that this Maia had appeared, not only her relationship with Sato-kun wavered, he's spending more time with the girl from across the sea than herself!

"You're raising your voice at me because of her!" Risa said loudly in a heartbroken voice, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "How could you do such a thing to me!"

"I'd do that to anyone who insult innocent bystanders," Satoshi started in a cold voice, "-and I won't hesitate to warn you off either, _**Harada**_."

Risa started to cry pitifully, hoping to pull off the sad look that most men would stoop down to anything just to comfort her and offer their shoulders to her, but to her surprise, Satoshi didn't look at her.

His eyes focused entirely onto that girl, Maia, who examined his scratched wrist, where four ugly scratch mark begun to bleed, angrily red.

"I'm fine, Maia," said Satoshi softly, noticing her expression darkening into something akin to cold fury, unconsciously making Risa angrier than she already is. Maia's face was veiled in a cold expression, furious upon the sight of bleeding and swelling scratch mark that Risa gave to Satoshi.

Turning towards Risa, she eyed her coldly and said grimly, "_I cannot accept the idea of others hurting my loved ones, and I certainly won't tolerate it if anyone hurt him."_

For a while, Risa is petrified. The tone in Maia's voice is plain obvious that she is warning her off, and it's making herself tremble. "You're nothing but an extra thorn in our life, Akihiko Maia!" sobbed Risa, angry and jealous at her for getting all of Satoshi's attention when the person who is supposed to treat his injured wrist is her. "Just leave us alone already! You're ruining our relationship!"

Satoshi had swallowed the unnecessary affection and all the garbage that she had spun after the infamous Phantom Dark Thief dumped her all for the same reason that Satoshi abhorred her; she's too demanding and selfish for her own good. But today, after seeing what she had done to insult Maia; he figured that enough is enough. He can no longer let her misunderstood about the current situation any longer.

"_There were never 'us' to begin, Harada_. All the time it was just you and your own thoughts misunderstanding the whole situation. I had enough of the lies that you spun to tell everyone about us, and since there were never us, there's no need for me to comfort you."

"Sato-kun-"

"That is not a name you are allowed to call me by," Satoshi snapped back angrily. "Maia is the only person I who is allowed to call me by that name."

"_How could you do this to me_!" she sobbed out loudly, hoping to steer up something. She loved being the victim, and if the news that she is dumped spread out again, it would be horrible for her reputation as the fairest n Azumano High School.

Just then, Daisuke walked in.

The poor chap had heard Risa sobbing not far from where he stand, and he had decided to check up on her to make sure nothing happens to his girlfriend's sister, and found that Risa was sobbing her heart out on the floor. Satoshi had his wrist held out for Maia to bandage with her handkerchief, and by the looks of it, his injuries were pretty serious since the handkerchief that Maia bound to his wrist is quickly soaked in four long line of blood.

"Hiwatari-kun?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Err…what happened here?" he said awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

The next person bounced in along with Daisuke.

"Hey, Daisuke, you didn't happen to see the younger Harada twins have you?" said Saehara, one hand slung lazily over his best buddies' shoulder.

Daisuke pointed innocently towards the pile of pitiful sobbing; Harada Risa.

Saehara raised one of his eyebrows puzzlingly. The sight of a crying Harada Risa is very common, but the sight of the greatly feared Hiwatari Satoshi staring lovingly at the Maia currently fussing over his bleeding wrist is rare enough. He knew that Risa is giving herself another one-sided-love, and he hadn't bothered to explain to his partner, which is Risa herself, exactly what kind of relationship that Hiwatari Satoshi and Akihiko Maia lead. He thought that she would give up her chase upon the enchanted Hiwatari, but the current situation told another story.

Mercilessly, Saehara fired his question bluntly, "Finally realizing it now, aren't you Harada-san?"

If possible, Risa sobbed even louder, drawing the attention of Miss Lee.

"How could you do this to me!" she started. "After everything I have done to her, you still refused to be my partner and be together with me!" pointing an accusing finger at Maia, she continued, "She's just making you stay here by saying her clothes had been soaked in the bathtub! And why are you wearing my dress!"

Everyone raised their eyebrow. Curious, Maia asked suspiciously, "How did you know my clothes were soaked in the bathtub?"

"You idiot!" she screamed at Maia, who purse her lips curtly, swallowing the insult. "I did it of course! No matter what I did, both of you just seemed to stick together like glue!"

"Harada Risa-san is that true?" said a familiar voice from behind the doors.

"Of course it's true!" said Risa haughtily, forgetting that she is supposed to act as a sobbing victim. Continuing in a higher, angrier pitch, she exclaimed piercingly "What else could I do to humiliate her!"

"I will call your parents, Harada-san, and in the meantime, Saehara-san will stay as your partner throughout the trip, and for the rest of the year."

Preparing to scream her lungs out at the person who dared to threaten her, she caught the familiar back of their teacher in charge, Miss Lee. It was then she realized that Miss Lee is the one who was issuing the order as a teacher in charge. She had stupidly blown her cover and now, she's no longer the victim but the person who stirs the entire unnecessary situation up.

Trying her last stunt, Risa screamed at the teacher in charge, "Then what about Satoshi-kun! He's supposed to come with us to the expedition!"

"He can stay her and protect Akihiko san from _jealous schoolgirls_."

Maia, to Satoshi's surprise, had her jaw dropped like a gaping fish. She cannot believe that a teacher is allowed to say such a thing, and she think that it's cool. Noticing Satoshi observing her skeptically, she smiled at him and pats his hand like someone consoling a child who just had their ice cream snatched by a big bully.

"Let's get this bandaged shall we, Sato-kun?"

* * *

Afterwards, everybody left.

Yes, everybody left, all excluding Satoshi and Maia. Miss Lee's decision had raised several uproars from the students, mainly Risa's supporters and Maia's many admires, but of course, as a teacher, you wield the most power among a group of students. She had only needed to threaten them with tons of homework and they were silent immediately, much to the younger Harada Twin's disappointment.

Risa had tried, once again, and unsuccessfully to persuade Miss Lee into permitting Satoshi to come along with them to the expedition and leave Maia alone in the hotel. But Satoshi, being the possessive one, knew that many of the hotel's workers, mainly the manager, had taken a liking to the rumored new Azumano High School's fairest beauty, Akihiko Maia, and that she is naïve and dense enough to allow a strange to feed her food, and being the glutton he knew she was (despite her protesting that she is not), would definitely fell into their simple little trick and had successfully persuaded Miss Lee that there could be many other jealous schoolgirls waiting to ambush her, and possibly murder her and buried her in the hotel's many mud pit, or worse, thrown over the jungle's bushes, which is the perfect spot for an outdoor sex- AHEM, I mean, outdoor private activities.

"And who would know," started Satoshi in a low and careful tone, which hinted the dangers ahead if Maia were to left alone, "-that the whole trip of coming here searching and studying for the bugs in the jungle would take a turn for the worst and turned into a shocking discovery of 'Akihiko Maia's murdered corpse'?" he was utterly delighted when Miss Lee's face paled a little, possibly imagining a pile of bugs that the class were supposed to study upon feasting on Maia's mutilated corpse, chomping down upon her bloody eyeball mercilessly, relishing in the wonderful free delicious human gourmet meal. Lowering a notch of his voice, he lashed out his last tactic, "I'm quite sure that you don't want that to happen to a naïve 17 year old young lady…"

"ENOUGH!" screamed Miss Lee, surprising everyone. "Alright you cheeky little brat," she called Satoshi, glaring at his amused expression. "You stay here and guard Akihiko-san from jealous murdering schoolgirls! The others, on to the expedition! No more noises or you'll risk being the next meal for our bugs!"

And just like that, they're gone.

To say Satoshi is a merciless manipulating devil would be a terrible thing, but it is quite correct. He knew that Miss Lee had quite the funny fear for any type of horrors and gores, and she did have quite the mind to imagine such a thing to happen to Maia if she were to drag him along to the expedition and leave Maia alone in the hotel. Teachers are no match for the famous 17 year old genius of Azumano High School, Hiwatari Satoshi.

If he really is a genius, then why would he suggest such a lame excuse to spend the time with Maia!

Currently, both of them were in the hotel's famous rose garden 'The Garden of Eden', they called it. Maia had scoffed the moment her eyes landed upon the sign to the rose garden, and declared that the hotel managers had probably ran out of ideas to name the rose garden. Satoshi had taken the privilege of changing his clothes once the teacher is gone and after that, he had gone immediately to Maia's room and dragged her aimlessly, not knowing that he's dragging her to the rose garden, which is a famous ground for confessions and marriage proposals. How lovely if he could just slap himself for the bright idea of wandering aimlessly right there and then, but his pride prevented his hands from moving.

And here they are, deep within the Garden of Eden. Maia was still wearing the same dress, and strangely, it suits the situation. The air around them was so thick with the wonderful hypnotizing smell of roses that one could practically preserve them with their clothes alone. Bees and butterflies were everywhere, roses of all colors on one side; all of them brought nothing to Maia's expression, except to make her look a little…grim.

What Satoshi didn't know is that she is thinking. There are just so many stupid things that she choose that time to think about; why so many stupid and embarrassing things happened to her upon her arrival in Azumano High School, why did such a stupid and dumb person like Risa would exist at the first place, why her clothes were soaked by sheer jealousy, why she's wearing a _skirt_, and why is that terrible wound on Satoshi's wrist at the first place. Before she knew it, her visions turned blurry and clouded with tears.

Satoshi, upon seeing her tearing up, froze in anticipation. He dreaded another 'Risa', he dreaded the panic that rise to his throat alarmingly and he dreaded the sobs that are threatening to come out of her. The whole point is; he didn't know what he should do to console a crying girl.

"Why did this things happen to me?" she sobbed miserably, startling Satoshi out of his dread. Her eyebrow was knitted in such a sad and slanted way that made his heart ache just by staring at her. "I was just loving you (he blinked in surprise at that), was that a wrong thing to do?" the way she asked him that innocent question was so adorable that he can't help but to feel heat rushes up to his cheek. Burying her head into the safest place, which is the crook of his neck, she sobbed her heart out.

"Do I deserve all those jealousy? Tell me, Sato-kun!"

The moment she told him to tell her what she wanted to hear, she had sealed his doom. Krad was already stirring inside of him right from the start, and he could do nothing to stop him once the fallen angle living within him decided to come out. Then, something strange happened.

He felt a strange wave of warmth enveloping his chest.

It was like nothing he had ever experienced. It's not like someone poured lukewarm water onto his chest, nor was it felt like he was soaking in a bathtub full of warm water. The kind of warmth he felt stirring within his chest is scorching hot, and yet it felt wonderfully wonderful, as if he's really taking a hot bubble bath.

He loved this feeling, and before he knew it, he was staring down at Maia's tear-soaked face through the eyes of Krad, his signature blond fringe blocking part of his sight. He had transformed into Krad with Maia still wrapped in his arms.

So this is what Niwa felt whenever he transformed into Dark, thought Satoshi. A pang of jealousy washed over him like wave does in beaches. The transformation was like a dream, painless and utterly blissful, and if he were to comment on it, it would be almost pleasurable. If he were to transform like this from now on, his life wouldn't shorten anymore like any other Hikari's. In fact, if he were to transform with this wonderful and painless method, he could well become the first Hikari to outlive his ancestors' greatly shortened lives.

But then, there's something strange. Isn't Maia the Rejecter? Isn't she supposed to reject any magical waves, for example, Krad's anxiousness to resurface and take over his body? And if she _is_ the Rejecter, why did he transform into Krad?

Then something struck him like a lightning.

Transforming into his other form, Krad, needs not magical powers. Only if Krad tried to force his way out without the love genes does he need the power of magic to do so. And now, he practically transformed without the need of magic; he transformed because he felt love in his heart.

Then here comes the inevitable event; Maia raised her head up and stared naively up to his eyes, which are Krad's amber eyes at this moment.

"Sato-kun?" she sobbed. "*sob* when did you put on contacts and a blonde wig? *sob* you look so much like a dumb blonde… *sob*…*began to wail and cry and bury her face into the crook of his neck once more*"

Krad, to Satoshi's surprise, frozen onto the very ground he was standing, much like how Satoshi froze upon seeing Maia cried. From his point of view, it would seem as if Krad is every bit inexperienced in handling girls as a little boy hitting his puberty stage.

Then, Maia did the unexpected.

She stopped crying all of a sudden and held herself at arm's length away from Krad, who stared at her blankly. She stared at him with the funny look and scanned him up and down, and down and up again.

"Who are you?" she asked stupidly. And do you know what Krad did? Well.

He did nothing. No, not even a blink or a nod or a noise coming from his cursed piece of a mouth. No none, no sir, and it was right then Satoshi realized that Krad was sleeping within him all the time and the sudden transformation had him in a situation he had never handled before; transformation without Krad's consent. It was always the other way round.

Gradually focusing, Krad found himself forcefully transformed and- _where the hell is this girl touching!_

Krad, surprised at the sight of a girl, and a girl that _dared_ to touch him at that, screamed his head off angrily, "Where the hell are you touching you _stupid_ human _girl_!"

Eyes widened at the mention of 'stupid', she retorted back in equal anger and voice, "What the hell! (A/N: For some reason, I find this phrase highly amusing…) If you're not looking as if you would topple any moment soon, I wouldn't want to touch you, you rude piece of a man! Now where is Sato-kun!

_Sato-kun?_ He did a double check on the girl that held him previously. He had to admit that she looked much more beautiful than before. Examining her from top to toe and toe back to her face, he realized what had made her looked that stunning all of a sudden. She was wearing a dress, just like what a girl ought to wear in Krad's ancient opinion. After all, he _was_ the ancestor of his current descendent and host, Satoshi. It has been a long time since he had properly laid his eyes on a woman, and since he did took his time; he would have to make use of the given time since his decedent's body, Satoshi, has a limit of its own.

"Ah, so you are the human that my master is in love with," he started, taking note that her ears perked up at the mention of 'master'.

Looking back at the person that had so rudely pushed her off along with a rude remark of the insult 'stupid', which does a huge blow to her pride, Maia noticed something that she did not notice previously prior to her focusing entirely on the rude person's face which resembled Satoshi's face a lot.

That rude piece of a man has wings!

"I am Krad, human lover of my master," he begun, mouth began to form into a wicked grin. He knew just one thing that he had to do to her, for the chance for him to appear is rare since his master's body cannot tolerate his forceful ways. "Now, stand still and let me-"

"Krad!" Maia suddenly interfered, eyes wide in pure surprise and a tinge of naivety in her voice, like a child who found her favorite lost toy. "You're Krad! As in 'Krad the famed Fallen Angel'!"

…_kill you_…Krad thought, finishing his sentence in his mind. It came as a surprise the moment this petite little human called out his name as if she had been searching him for years. _Krad The Fallen Angel? Hmm…I like it._

**Don't you dare touch her, Krad!**

_Why, why, why, Satoshi-sama? You know full well that you can't hold anything dear to you, for I will destroy them._

**Just you dare-**

_Oh, I forgot, she's the Rejecter. I can't touch the Rejecter with magic, remember? __**But I can hurt her without magic.**_

**Krad!**

"Are you related to Sato-kun, Krad-kun? You resembled him in a way or two…"

_Both _Krad and Satoshi raised their eyebrows in astonishment. Both of them, one a reluctant master while the other a devil in an angel's mask had not expected this kind of question to pop out from Maia, or in Krad's case, the human lover of his master.

Rendered quite speechless, he accidentally sputtered unintelligently, "Y-yeah, I am." Once he realized that he's sputtering like a nervous stupid human, he quickly gathered what's left of his pride and fired with smugness. "You're just an _outsider_; you had no need to know about this, _human_."

Appeared unfazed by his rude told-off comment, Maia smiled kindly and said, "If given the choice, I would like Krad better than that thieving Phantom whatsit Dork, or was it Dark? We're far better off without that pompous little thing."

Sadly, Krad did not pay attention to her when she was speaking. In fact, he was busy glaring off a few bees and butterflies that had somehow taken a liking to his proud long golden ponytail. Upon hearing her mumbling something he cannot understand, he immediately wanted her to repeat it again. By means of wanting her to repeat her words, he had opted in using the kind of word that is so ancient and polite and dangerous and sounded oh-so-intelligent and civilized. So instead of using 'Sorry' upon someone like Maia like everybody does in this era, he, of all the words, used…

"I beg your pardon?"

Within him, he heard Satoshi sputtered and sweat-dropped.

_I never thought you would one day be so __**stupid**__ as to use that kind of word on someone like Maia._

**Why you-**

Eyes bulging in shock, Krad understood why Satoshi said those blunt words daringly after hearing Maia stuttered, possibly in shock. "K-Krad?" she stuttered. "Be- _Beg_ my _**pardon**_!" pausing in thought, Maia burst out laughing in a silly way. "Oh, of course I'll pardon you, silly! What makes you think I won't eh? Haha! No worries, no worries! Ahaha…haha…ahaha…err…however, I must ask, what exactly did you require my pardon?"

Lips tighten in a dangerous line; Krad opted using his second line of what he labeled as 'Intelligent' and 'Civilized', just what a well-mannered and civilized man ought to say in this sort of situation. "Excuse me?"

Mistaking that he might not have heard her well, she repeated her question in a slightly louder voice, "Well, what exactly did you require my pardon."

Frustrated, he raised his voice a notch higher than hers, wanting her to understand quickly, "I said, _I beg your pardon_!"

"I already pardoned you, what else do you want me to do?" said Maia woefully, not quite understanding the complexity of the situation.

Resisting the temptation to run his hand through his ponytail, Krad responded in throwing his hands up in the air and shouted desperately, "God!"

Quickly resuming her quirky personality, Maia said in a matter-of-factly tone, "No can do my friend," using a finger to wriggle the 'no' in his face. "I am not the creator; therefore, I cannot create God. Amen."

Taking a deep breath so as to control his hand from flying to her neck and strangling her, Krad said slowly, "When did I say I want you to create God for me?"

"Well, I ask you want do you want me to do and you said God and then…well, it's obvious that you want me to create God since you shouted His name to my face, which I cannot, so, I had to say sorry at my being unable to fulfill your desire to see Him."

"You're impossible," he said dejectedly. He had been beaten by a mere girl with nothing but that- that piece of cursed off mouth and brain!

Smiling, she said softly, "Sato-kun used to say that to me too"

Head snapping up, she remembered the blue haired smarty, "And speaking of Sato-kun, where is he really?"

Brushing off imaginary dust off his clothes, he resumed his arrogant and smug expression and said proudly, "I am Krad, the other half of Dark Mousy of the Phantom Thief, currently residing within Satoshi-sama."

_You stupid thing._

Mistaken the 'within' for 'with', she blurted out happily, "Oh, you live with Sato-kun? I see. What do you work as most of the day? And how come I didn't see you around the neighborhood?"

Krad chewed the insides of his mouth to contain his bubbling frustration. "No, I don't work," Krad said, trying to explain in a normal tone. "I reside within-"

"Oh! You mean you're unemployed?" Maia intervened happily. "Oh, this is my first time meeting someone who is _**jobless**_! How do you do? Tell me everything you know as someone unemployed! Aha! So exciting!"

It is strange to say, but the word 'jobless' seemed to stab him right on his pride. He had not the need to work! He's the great Fallen Angel, Krad, the other counterpart of Phantom Thief Dark! The only thing he needed to do is finish off that Dark and take over Satoshi-sama's body and make it his own and take back all the Hikari's artwork! He doesn't need a job or to work…_r-right_?

"Now listen here, you stupid piece of weak human-" said Krad, totally ignoring the shock written all across Maia's angrily flushed face.

"Hey! Watch what you are spitting out of that cursed piece of your mouth!"

"I am Krad, the other half of Dark Mousy. For some reasons, we resides within two different and a total polar opposite kind of people, the other which you already knew, which is Satoshi-sama. I live to destroy Dark, and I will destroy anyone that Satoshi-sama holds dear so that he will have no reason to live and will thus, surrender his body to me."

Maia stared with her eyes wide like an innocent porcelain doll at him. What she sees is not the pride and the smug and the arrogance displayed all over the angel's perfect sculptured face. Instead, she sees his heart breaking behind all those displays. Whenever it cracked, she could practically hear the imaginary screams of Krad, screaming for his body and mind to stop breaking his heart.

Since young, Maia had the knack of sensing other's emotions around her just by looking into their eyes. In fact, she is so sensitive to the thoughts of the people around her that it was practically a challenge for her just to make friends. Despite being pretty and open-minded and downright rich, she cannot trust the people of her age that called her 'their best friend'. Why is she their best friend? Well, she is rich. There are loads of people trying to scrap her clean, and most of her so-called friends does that by inviting her to an extremely expensive hotel for a huge cocktail party, and the next thing she knew is that the bills are right on their way to her family when she had nothing but chips and a glass of isotonic drink! Right after that happened, she changed her number and changed her entire being to make herself look more dorky and nerdy so that none of the popular and money hungry people would bother her, and they didn't. What she didn't know is that her cousin's father, whom she called Uncle Ken, is so angry and upset that those bunch of stupid children's had dared to upset his babies (he called all his close relatives that are either younger or around the same age as his daughter, Saya, babies.). For the fun of revenge, he invited all of them to a secret party using Maia's name and forced them to have fun when the same thing that they did to Maia happened to them. Bills, millions of debts for the each of them are right on their way to their parents.

"Serves them right, that bunch of ninnies," he had muttered happily when he saw the look of shock on their face. Nothing more fun than an irritated couple of parents.

Instead of looking all shocked and 'ohhh' like a stupid fan girls does, she gathered a few pieces of bricks and stacked them neatly. Stepping on them, she embraced Krad's head to her chest, much to his dismay.

"What-what the-! What the fuck are you doing!" sputtered Krad, cursing her for the heat pooling around his cheek.

Patting his head in a rhythm, Maia said softly, "Consoling your broken heart."

Krad's eyes widened in shock. What she had told him was like a bombshell dropped on top of his blonde mop of golden hair. His heart is breaking? That sounds so stupid. But when he gave himself over to his feelings, he felt a pang of sadness enveloping him in a sudden shield of emotions. As sudden as it was for him, his tears fell unwillingly from his golden eyes. Suddenly, his mind comprehended the reason why his tears would fell when his heart is already frozen to stone.

He remembered the first art piece he had made, and he remembered how he wished he could bring life to such a lovely statuette. Nobody wanted to be with him, for he was rumored to be mad and someone of no important property, except his vast knowledge in art. Those that pursued him were either in love with his knowledge or in love with his artworks, which is rumored once again to be of the finest quality and extremely valuable. He was lonely, and he sought out companionship through his artworks, showering them with love and eventually, sold his soul to the devil in return for the power to give life to his artworks. His passion in creating the ultimate artwork had resulted in a terrible mishap when the Niwa clan's thief came through the doors where he is about to give life to the last of his artwork, and that same passion had turned him into an artwork itself, who is bound to live in his next generation's body and resurfacing whenever his host held something dear to them. If only there are no artworks, he and Dark the thief would be the best of friends.

Within the weeping Krad, Satoshi pondered about what had happened moments ago. He was somewhat surprised when Krad had broke down when Maia told him the impossible thing; that Krad's heart is breaking and that she heard it breaking. How did she knew his heart is breaking, and how did she knew that he is in need of someone to console him of his sorrow? She was just a mere Rejecter living the life of an extremely unfortunate girl that seemed to draw more danger to herself than to those around her, as if the very presence of her innocently walking in the middle of the road excited Death to reschedule her death day.

As far as he knew, Rejecters are born whenever an extremely huge blow of heartbreaking episode happened in their life or that their life has been tempered by magic in a frequent amount of time, and they are quite a rare group of them all around the world. He knew a few old museum curators that frequently handled magical artworks that had developed the powers of a Rejecter, and magic had no effect on them whatsoever, thus allowing them further handlings on other more dangerous and cursed artworks. But if they are around the very being that gave off magical energies once in a while involuntarily, their powers as Rejecter could evolve into something much more different while still preserving their abilities and powers as a Rejecter.

A Rejecter, basically, is a powerless human with the uncanny ability to reject the very essence of magical waves, which they cannot control no matter how hard they practiced, for there are no ways to ward off the shield that enveloped their very being. However powerless magic appears to them, they still cannot evade the very essence of living magic implanted _directly_ into them, which could result in several strange new abilities evolved from their strongest human traits such as strength or speed. In terms of implanted directly into them, it would take the forms of either the very blood of the magic wielder being transfused or consumed by the Rejecter, or the intimate ways, which both Satoshi and Maia had had before; Sexual Intercourse.

Satoshi came into a shocking conclusion. Maia, after having been injected by his very essence of magic directly into her being, had acquired the ability of empathy. She had had the strangest and strongest sensitivity in the thoughts of the people around her, and after having an intimate affair with him for one night, that trait of hers had evolved much further, and more powerful than anyone with Empathy could imagine since she had had it when she was still a young thing.

_Maia becoming the Empress of Empathy huh?_ Thought Satoshi considerately. _The title does suits her well._

"There, there," Maia said, still patting Krad's blonde mop of hair to sooth his sorrow. "Cry all you want, I'm here."

Krad rolled his eyes admits his tears. Of all the ridiculous things he had heard from this- this human _girl_, she advised him to cry all he want when it is the other way round.

"You're crying yourself too," he commented, his tears still flow freely while his face remained impassive. He, for once, allowed his emotion to get the better of him and freed all of his restrained sorrow and feelings in his heart.

"I feel sad all of a sudden too!" she sobbed pitifully, tears pouring without restraint from her eyes, remaining oblivious to the fact that Krad's eye is twitching in irritation for the fact that Satoshi is roaring in laughter within his being. Krad had long know that Maia is quite the interesting and hilarious character that kept Satoshi amused most of the time, mostly for the fact that she did not know that she was interesting and hilarious to Satoshi and most of her comical ways are unintentionally caused, but he didn't expect her to be comically _stupid_ either.

Rubbing her head roughly onto Krad's head, she sobbed her heart out. It seems that Maia's emotions has been affected by Krad's waves after waves of sorrow washing and splashing all around him, while Maia, standing there stupidly like the Empress of Empathy she is, received the full blast of Krad's suppressed emotions. From another's point of view, it wouldn't look as if Maia is consoling Krad; in points of fact, she looked as if she is the one being consoled by Krad, who preferred to keep his hands to himself rather than pat and wrap his arms around her like what a silly confused 12 year-old boy hitting puberty would do, resumed the position of being a 'statue'.

_I cannot comprehend how you could tolerate her very presence, Satoshi-sama._

Laughter reduced to silent chuckling, Satoshi replied lightly to Krad, surprised at the strange new way that he and Krad communicate.** Practice does make things perfect.**

Forcing Maia to stop clinging to him as if he's her screaming pillow, Krad regained his composure faster than Maia could fish out her handkerchief from between her breast and offered it to him. Krad, unable to suppress the very sight of a furiously blushing Satoshi within him, let out a loud roar of laughter.

"Did I do something funny again?" said Maia through her tears soaked face, eying Krad skeptically with her brown eyes. From Satoshi's action when they are free of spectators, Maia knew, she just had to do something to embarrass herself without her knowledge since he is known to laugh a lot when he was around her. And the very same thing happened to this beautiful blonde angel that appeared out of nowhere. She _must_ have done something embarrassingly ridiculous.

"S-sort of…hahaha!" Krad laughed. He had never felt this good when he laughs, and he felt slightly lightheaded from it. He felt as if he's not Krad the Fallen Angel today, but Hikari Satoshi, his last descendent. Heaving mouthful of breath, he carefully spoke to Maia, who still had her handkerchief offered to him, hands stretched in a straight line.

Ignoring the handkerchief, Krad took hold of her outstretched hand into his and knelt down in front of her, completely yielding himself over to her command for the sheer will of not hating, fearing nor flee at the sight of him and treated him like anyone she would have met, well, excluding the fact that she called him '_the_ famed Fallen Angel Krad'. He adored the bravado she put up in front of him and not afraid to snap back at him when he had so rudely insulted her level of intelligence. What he find irresistible from her is the sheer fact that she is willing to offer her arms and shoulders for him to cry on, knowing that she had only known him for barely a full day. He appreciates it a lot at her display of emotion on his behalf by crying with him so that he will not feel awkward.

Placing his lips gently upon the back of her hand, Krad whispered loud enough for her to hear, "You are quite the interesting being, Maia of the Humans. I shall yield my being over for you."

As he had expected, she appears to be confused by his display of affection. _Was he touched by my willingness to lend him my only handkerchief? Is he going to help me look for Sato-kun now?_

"I shall return Satoshi-sama to you now, for I am terribly in need of a long slumber. Till we meet again, Maia of the Humans," he finished, and with that, he is gone in a flurry of soft white feathers, and right in his place is her beloved blue-haired genius, Satoshi.

"Sato-kun! You're back!" squealed Maia, launching herself right into Satoshi's arms, sending both of them tumbling to the rose petal covered ground.

"You're unbelievably calm about it when that guy appears," Satoshi commented softly. He knew Maia was the kind of people that would believe anything a person is telling, but since she had the knack of differentiating between a lie and a truth, he does not need to worry about his secret about the Hikari and the Niwa's.

"In a good way or a bad way?" chirped Maia happily. She was pleased when she saw the safe return of Satoshi, and it satisfied her greatly just by being in the safely of his arms.

"Both. Always both," he remarked crudely. Smiling, he kissed the side of her head and whispered in a voice only she could hear, "But that's what I like about you."

Afterwards, they waited for the return of Miss Lee and the rest of the class patiently. Sitting on a bench overlooking the entire beachside, Satoshi asked Maia something that he was sure she doesn't know.

"Do you know that the original name for this island is Avice?"

Startled by the sudden revelation, Maia smiled, glad that Satoshi is opening up to her. "No," she replied. "It's a very beautiful name," she praised. "What does it mean?"

Grasping her small hand in his, he gave it a gentle squeeze and spoke softly, "It means '_The only_ _safest place'_."

* * *

A/N: Why did I name that island Avice? Well, it would be put to emphasize a few things. First, Maia's bravado in facing the pipes single-handedly. Being the clumsy character I made her to be, she would definitely fall down from the pipes, but instead of falling down, she succeeded in climbing them. Next, her confrontation with Risa. With Risa being the much more savage girl in here since I hated her, Maia could have ended up in more wounds than just clothes soaked in the bathtubs, or she could have ended up naked without a thing to cover herself with. So, she had escaped the death threats twice. The third is the appearance of Krad-sama. We all know what Krad did to Daisuke the moment he met that poor red-headed boy in the manga, and the same thing would happen to Maia had not the powers of the island, Avice, soothed the nerves of Krad and twisted the event into a more interesting path for the characters to go, such as Satoshi's realization on Maia's new power, empathy. His nickname for her power had unintentionally given her the absolute power over all empathies, reigning over them as the Empress of Empathy. This proves that the power of the island Avice has not faded, and that would explain the prosperity of the hotel and the successful proposal of couples, for Avice is intervening and twisting the possible dangerous outcomes.


	8. 8: Accidents and Discovery

A/N: Hello! Konichiwa! Ni hao! Salam Sejahtera! Anyonghasaeyo! Varnakam!

It's been a looooooooooong time since I've updated "Expect the Unexpected", and I apologize for the delayed upload. I'm starting college, and in the near future, it would be hard for me to write up some more. But nonetheless, I'll try my best to upload it as soon as possible. I'm just dying to tell you what would happen to them next time since I can already imagining them dancing on stage...opps! Sorry! Now, treat that revelation/spoiler as the little appetizer, there's more to come up soon~~~! *hint hint hint*!

I will appreciate and greatly motivated to update this story if you'll be kind enough to drop by loads of reviews for me~~~ Thank you for supporting Sato-kunxOC~~

* * *

**8-Accidents and Discovery**

The whole trip to the island, Avice, has turned out to be surprisingly…normal. Nothing out of the ordinary- excluding what happened when Krad appeared- happened and Maia is not murdered and nothing out of the blue. Miss Lee's job as a teacher is safe once again.

The day they are to board the ship back to the land of Azumano-Chou, Maia, once again, is making a huge fuss over the decision to board the huge block of structured metal floating on the sea's surface. This time, the ship seemed much more menacing and huge, and it immediately sent a few nightmare of an image through her brain. Bless her for having such sophisticated imagination.

Pushing back his sleeve, he prepared for the dive to grab Maia and throw her to his back like a sack of potatoes. But when he started towards Maia, to his surprise, she bolted.

What is he supposed to do if not run after her?

"Hiwatari! What are you doing?" Miss Lee yelled over the ship's handrail, having boarded the ship and monitoring the student's presence on the board by having the Mura-Mura pair gives a tick on the list of names of students from class 3B. The only names which remained empty of any ticks or cross is Hiwatari and Akihiko.

"I'll go get her," he yelled back, and took after Maia's gradually disappearing back.

Moments later, he found her standing stupidly behind a bush, staring at it with shock and surprise written all over her face. Finding her actions remarkable odd, he crept up silently behind her.

"Ahnn~ Faster~ Ah~ There, there! Ahhnn~ Yes~ It feels so good Kato-kun~" a feminine voice moaned in pleasure.

He froze.

Of all the things in the world that could possibly happen to Maia and him is that they just had to witness a pair of shameless couple rocking against each other by the tree, all the time moaning audaciously to the world. They all but screamed to the world that they're having sex there and warned people not to come by that particular place.

_For fuck's sake,_ thought Satoshi, _couldn't they just get a room or something?_

Before he could grab Maia and run from that place, Maia fell down into his arms heavily.

"Maia? Maia!" Satoshi cried out in surprise, remembering to lower his voice so as to not alarm the shameless couple, currently having their orgasm and screamed in seventh heaven while the man howled in ecstasy like a wild dog. Placing her head in his arms, he patted her cheek to wake her up. She kept still and quiet, like someone who had fainted.

Panic rose in his chest. Why would Maia faint? She's perfectly healthy and all! Opening the lids of her eyes, he checked for the signs of any obvious illness or anything that could be the reason for her collapse. No signs of fainting, no signs of asthma or stroke, no signs of…nothing.

Only fatigue- the obvious signs of sleep, lightly snoring in his arms.

Rolling his eyes, he huffed out in frustration. Of all the time for her to sleep, she chooses now to fall into her slumber. It'll be terrible if the pair of unabashed couples found out that both of them were hiding behind a bush. What will they think? Obviously that they will point their fingers at them and accuse them, no, now that Maia is asleep, they will accuse _him_ of peeping! For the _love_ of _God_, he had a reputation as the Supreme Commander to keep! Should Maia know what he was thinking; she would laugh and tease him about it for _centuries_ to come!

"Ahh~" the girl from behind the bush sighed blissfully. "That is so amazing! You're so good at sex, Kato-kun~"

Satoshi's Goosebumps rose alarmingly.

"I know, Sachiko-Chan," replied the man with a deeper voice, who sounded far older than he looked like. "Let's have another round again near the pool," he said teasingly at her, pinching her breast suggestively.

"Iyaa~ you're so perverted! ~"

"Only for you, my honey bunny~"

"Kato-kun~"

"Sachiko-Chan~"

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Satoshi grabbed Maia, slung her behind his back and bolted away from the cursed bush before the bashful couple could leave there stark naked in nothing but their revealing swimwear. The clothing's article that Satoshi saw earlier were nothing but strings of thin see through g-strings and bright red trunks. He did not want to think what would happen if he were seen by them.

Despite having a burden carried behind him, Satoshi's speed in running hadn't slow down at all. Despite the things that Maia stuff down her throat every time she eats, she's quite light. He barely felt her weight behind him, probably due to the excessive magical powers he held within him that made him slightly stronger than others, which took the form of Krad. Of course, the same thing happens to Niwa Daisuke.

Quickly boarding the ship, he arrived at the deck barely out of breath, surprising everyone by the sheer sight of the cold Hiwatari Satoshi giving Akihiko Maia a piggyback ride.

"Miss Lee, I got Ma- Akihiko," Satoshi said, quickly correcting the use of her name in order to spare himself some serious lectures from the teacher. What he didn't know is that Miss Lee had long ago figured out what Maia is to Satoshi since the day he kept persuading her to let Maia slip the expedition to the island, which failed and when he persuaded her for the second time about the expedition to the jungle, he succeeded. _Since that little blank-faced boy has shown some feelings of being overprotective_ _of that girl, it'll be fine_, thought Miss Lee cheekily.

"You got her?" the teacher feigned relief, "Thank God! Good, now we can take off."

However, before she could tell the one operating the ship to take off, the sight of something pink bobbing by the side of her vision caught her attention.

Upon closer securitization, she found that it was a girl wearing a pink outfit running towards the ship. "Who is that?" she asked curiously, and the whole class turned to look over the ship inquiringly.

Barely over a whisper, Risa screamed her lungs out in fear of getting left on the island all by herself, all the time waving her hand restlessly while running.

"WAIT! I'M HERE! DON'T LEAVE YET!" she screamed in an unladylike way.

Everyone heard a vein snapped upon seeing Risa, who is supposed to be on board already with the rest of the students running like a stumbling maggot with all her hair flying around her and her pink duffle bag bouncing off her hip, one hand holding a large white cup with a red cap on it that signifies the water in it is still hot.

"Why is she off the ship, Saehara-san? Isn't her name ticked on the board!" Miss Lee lashed her fury upon the thoughtless reporter, who scratched the back of his neck in shame. Every pair of partner is responsible for the presence of their partner, and it angered the teacher that not only did Saehara not report to the teacher that Risa is not on board, but both he and Risa is separated,

"She said she'll be back in a jiffy after getting her 'beauty tea'…"

Right after he said that, Risa appeared on the deck, out of breath and hair blown all over her face.

"I'm here…I'm here…I'm here…I made it…" huffed Risa, hand still clenched around the hot cup of…something.

"Why are you off the ship!" Miss Lee reprimanded Risa angrily. "You could have been left behind if I had not happened to look out of the ship!"

"I just…need my….beauty tea…can't…live without it…needs it…everyday…every morning…"

Frowning in disapproval, Miss Lee explained to the person conducting the ship and apologized for her "Unladylike, but trying to act like a lady," student.

"Younger Harada-san," started Saehara, looking rather irritated. "Could you please stop trying to get me into trouble? I got a nasty one from Miss Lee just now."

Flashing him her smug look, Risa tossed a piece of her chocolate brown hair behind her back and said self-righteously, "It's your job to keep me off the hook, and it's your fault that Miss Lee scold you! It's none of my business."

Turning around, Risa strode off in her pink heels, but something caught her eyes before she could go ahead to the front deck to enjoy her tea.

Satoshi, the one who had dumped her, have that piece of filth slung over his back!

Taking a deep breath, Risa strutted forward like what she thinks a high class professional runaway model does. She's going to give Satoshi a piece of her mind and, if possible, tried to persuade him to return to her side. If he would not, then she would fling to him a string of curses coolly and in style, just like one of the bitchy characters she had seen on TV. Checking herself, she brushed off imaginary dust off her shoulders and skirt; after all, she had to look good and stay in style in order to challenge someone she knew would be her equal and is the perfect candidate as her 'King', and started the walk.

The heels of her shoes get caught in practically nothing and, tripping carelessly, Risa spilled the large cup of hot tea all over Maia's sleeping back, who was still riding on Satoshi's back. Immediately, Maia bolted upright and uttered several small squeaks of surprise and pain. The situation couldn't have worsened when Risa choose to tell her friend, Fukuda that the tea she held is freshly brewed from a freshly boiled water. She had practically fried Maia's back with hot tea.

Pushing herself off Satoshi's back in surprise, Maia fell backwards heavily onto the hard wooden deck on her scalded back, screaming in pain upon contact. Because the day is hot, she had taken the privilege of dressing herself in a loose thin cotton singlet, where it flared out from below her breast. Being what the cloth material is, it soaked in the heat and left Maia trying to pull it off.

"Maia!" Satoshi exclaimed in surprise when Maia fell from his back. The scream she emitted is not something that he wanted to hear, and to see her trying her best to pull the cotton material off her scalded back had him in action immediately.

"Maia? Maia. Listen to me. Don't focus on the heat. Look at me." Satoshi tried his best to remove Maia from the hot feeling behind her alarmingly scalded back, and from the looks of it, she was in a great deal of pain.

"My God..." Miss Lee said in a small shocked voice, shocked at the sight of the angry red burn on Maia's back, reddening alarmingly. "Somebody get her ice!"

"It's hot! It's hot! It hurts! My back hurts! Sato-kun…it hurts…" her voice trailed off as she started to cry from the pain. It was like someone had thrown a live burning fire at her back, and it's still burning her skin. She did what she's supposed to do at this moment; cry like a child to Satoshi.

"I know, I know," Satoshi cooed affectionately, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Let's get you something cold for it…" he said softly. Maia replied by nodding to him impatiently. Carefully, Satoshi grasped the back of her thigh and throw her carefully to his back, letting half of her torso dangled obediently behind him. Fortunately, the wind spirit had been kind as a light breeze grazes Maia's back, cooling off her boiled back.

"You could have been a bit more careful, Harada-san," said Nishimura Yuuji, the class president of Class 3B.

"What do you mean to say?" said Risa, eying the class president skeptically.

"It's enough that you happened to trip and spill your tea all over her back, and not a word of sorry at that."

Eyes widening an ugly wide shock, Risa raised her voice and protested, "It's not my fault that I spilled it on her! Do you think that I like to trip? Tripping ruins my reputation and my new shoes! Look! I could see a scratch from here, and I lose my cup of tea at that-"

"Quiet!" Satoshi exclaimed loudly, and everybody fell silent. Never before had class 3B seen Satoshi

"I had enough of you," Satoshi said, his voice dripping with unsaid venom. "No more amounts of noises from you, Harada, or you'll regret it."

Summoning the last of her courage, Risa fumed and raised her voice a notch higher than it already is, screaming piercingly, "You dare to threaten me!"

Eyes glaring coldly at her, Satoshi said quietly and grimly, "Don't make me seriously do it."

* * *

After that, Satoshi had placed the sobbing Maia in the safety of a kind fat lady who serves the dessert, whom the sailors working on board of the ship had told him that she is known for her specialty in treating burns and scalds. The woman had so kindly allowed him to use her secret salve which specializes in treating scalds and burns effectively and leaves no scar and Satoshi had stupidly tried to help Maia apply it when the fat lady slapped his hand away.

"She's a girl, for God's sake, boy!" the fat lady had exclaimed. "Are you going to lay your hands on her back?"

Right after that, she had scooped Maia into her arms smoothly and brought her to her room, where she proceeded to slam the door right in front of Satoshi's anxious face. Worried, he paced outside of her room with Riku and Daisuke.

"It'll be alright, Hiwatari-kun," said Daisuke reassuringly, patting his friend's back kindly.

Suddenly…

"Ah!" Maia squeaked. Everybody outside froze in anticipation.

"Oh God, it feels good~hmm~" Maia sighed heavenly.

The three outside froze into ice.

After a freezing moment, Satoshi turned to Riku and said, "Could you get in there and check up on her for me?"

In return, Riku, too, had stuttered back in shock, "S-sure."

Retreating back into both Maia and her room, Riku smiled at Satoshi reassuringly and sweetly at Daisuke.

He had seen the red angry burn behind her back briefly when the fat lady examined her burns. _She must have been in a lot of pain,_ thought Satoshi. Fortunately, the hot beverage that Risa carried is not coffee or any other infectious drinks, but tea. Tea does plenty of good to wounds and burns.

The door opened abruptly, surprising both Daisuke and Satoshi out of their reverie. Smiling widely, the fat lady patted Satoshi's shoulders a little too hard and said, "Your little girlfriend's fine now! Keep the salve, I have plenty more of them back in my cabin."

Surprised at the sudden affection she displayed for him and the way she called Maia his 'little girlfriend', the Supreme Commander's cheek burned unexpectedly. From behind the fat lady, he could see that Riku had on an apologetic expression, suggesting that she is the one that had told the fat lady about his relationship with Maia.

_How the hell did they know?_ Satoshi thought_. I hadn't even officially accepted her as my girlfriend, and neither did she! What the hell!_

Smiling at the sight of the beautiful blushing boy right in front of her, the fat lady offered to him a suggestion. "You know what?" she started cheerfully. "I'll give you a few bottles of them for your little girlfriend. Apply it once before she sleeps and after she baths and soon her skin would be smooth again!"

Patting his shoulders, the fat lady said again, "Ah, the joy of being in love!" With that, the fat lady walked away from the two boys gaping after her, surprise still etched on their face.

_A beautiful boy and a beautiful girl_, thought the fat lady. _Hmm…how nostalgic_. Believe it or not, the fat lady was once a great beauty, and seeing such a similar pair right in front of her brought back sweet memories from the past.

* * *

Arriving at the dock, everyone parted their ways and go home.

Risa, upon being forced by her twin Riku, gave Maia a half-hearted apology. Maia sleepily brushed it off and concluded that the whole thing is an accident, and when Risa is going to say something, she noticed the glare that Satoshi is giving her from behind Maia and froze with her mouth wide open, astonished by the display of his irritation. Mistaking that Risa is shocked at her casualty in brushing off the accident that had her back scalded with hot tea, Maia, to Risa's dismay, patted her shoulder softly and sleepily and told her to not put this incident in her heart.

Afterwards, Riku and Risa gone back home in their chauffer, Daisuke gone back home by walking and all that's left is Satoshi and Maia standing in the deserted port, a few tumbleweed appearing out of nowhere.

Instinctively, Satoshi sought out Maia's hand. Grasping her remarkably small and soft hand in his safely, he said quietly and sweetly, "Let's go home."

"Hmm?" Maia gave him a sleepy reply. _Oh, right_, Satoshi reflected. _Maia was still sleepy from the painkiller._

Hunker down in front of her, Satoshi offered Maia his back once again. "Come on, get on my back. I'll carry you."

"M'kay," was Maia's only reply. Feeling both of her arms wrapped around his neck, he grasped the back of her knee to his sides and stood up, both of their bags dangled on his arm.

Maia is wearing one of his T-shirt, which he had borrowed her so that it will not affect the burns on her back. It was obviously much larger than her petite form, and it flapped around her like she was a 6 year old in her daddy's cloth. He could practically feel the sleeves of the shirt she wore rubbing his neck, and that somehow made him happy. He loved how she smell, so sweet and so Maia-like, and he smiled placidly when Maia burrowed her face into his neck, sighing and mumbled some incoherent words that sounded like 'smells good'.

Fishing out her apartment's key from one of her bag's pocket, he entered her side of the apartment and gaped.

Her apartment looks so warm and beautiful, as if she had hired a professional interior designer to design the apartment and the furniture. But it couldn't be possible, he thought. Maia is someone who hates to boast how rich she is, and he is willing to bet that she had did all of this all by herself. Someone as dense as Maia could just turned out to be an extremely creative designer. But that is not the only thing that make him gaped in awe.

The walls are blue, the curtains are a slight blue, and even the welcome rug he's standing on is blue! There was just so much blue in it that the red couch stood out starkly like a duckling does in a group of yellow chicks. When Daisy said that she's a fan of blue, she really isn't just joking.

Walking straight towards where he thought was her bedroom; Satoshi placed her on her forest-green abstract-patterned bed as carefully as he could, taking great care of her back and made her lie on her sides in the middle of the bed. Now and again, he just had to gap at what Maia did to her apartment to make it look so good.

The beads that she had hung all around the walls of her bedroom would cost no more than 300 yen a packet, and all she had to do is strung it up and tied it on the curtain hanger.

Before he could observe more, Maia stirred and mumbled another string of incoherent words; her stray hand slapped Satoshi on his thigh and instantly, latched on to the hem of his shirt tightly.

"Hmm…Sato-kun daisuki…hmmm…" Maia mumbled in her dreams.

Chuckling slightly, he gently extracted his shirt away from Maia's hand and touched her forehead. _No fever_, he thought. _Good._

Leaning down, he kissed her forehead gently, whispering his love for her in her ear, and then he noticed his watch on his wrist.

Looking down on his watch, he mentally cursed himself.

It's nearly 5 in the evening, and Dark had sent out an invitation card to catch him in the act of stealing the Vial of Amaranth at 7 in the evening. He had less than 2 hours to prepare the necessary trap for the thief. That means he would have to leave right now.

But no matter, it's only two hours. Plus, Maia's asleep and the painkiller would work for several hours, and she would probably sleep till the next morning. She'll be alright by herself.

* * *

**_8:30p.m  
Azumano-Chou region, Hiwatari Satoshi's residence._**

It was dark. Yeah, dark within the sleek and shiny and pretty Mercedes that seemed to glide ever so gracefully on the stone roads of Azumano-Chou like a black sleek mirror. Ages ago, Satoshi would have rolled his eyes at the very thought of using a bullet-proof and missile-proof car to move him around Azumano-Chou as the Supreme Commander.

"_It's ridiculous!"_ He had complained to his foster father, Hiwatari Kei, who just chuckled at the sheer rare sight of his foster son's face expression.

"For the last time Satoshi-kun," his father chuckled, one hand covering his mouth. "It's just a car. Ride on it and you'll get to anywhere you want faster than you can say 'thank you'."

"Does it have to be a missile-proof car? I'm not going to die just by riding in an old junk car! That car you gave me is practically a neon sign telling everybody that the Supreme Commander Hiwatari Satoshi is inside the car!"

"All the more reason to take it, my son," his father said, patting a hand on his shoulder. He wanted to burst out laughing at his son's antics; eyes looking murderous and balling up his fist hard, Satoshi shivered in silent anger. "It's the easiest way to catch criminals."

"You're making me the _bait_," Satoshi said coldly, glaring up at his foster father.

Smiling, Kei replied, "If you want to think it that way, go ahead. You're getting the car anyway."

Flashing his foster father another glare, Satoshi strode out of the office and take note to slam the door as hard as he could.

"I can't believe he fell for it, that cute son of mine," Kei mumbled to himself, chuckling ever so often when he remembered his son's livid face expression. It's so rare that he gets to see his adopted son, let alone making fun of him. In order to make it up, he would either made him do impossible task or simply, making fun of him till his face is livid with silent rage.

Seriously, thinking back to the time when his father forced him to accept the car is making him angrier.

Balling up his fist, Satoshi gritted his teeth when he thought about something terribly unpleasant.

Every time. No. Every _single __**fucking**_ time that blasted Dark Mousy would escape. How the hell did he do that? Every single time is not of his concern, but he cannot believe that every single artwork Hikari Kohri had made had willingly gone with that bloody piece of a thief (A/N: Sorry for all Dark Fans! I'm writing Dark based on the anime version and not the manga version!). But this is nothing.

The stealing of the Hikari's artwork is practically the least of his trouble compared to a more serious problem that had arisen from, sadly speaking, the trouble magnet Maia herself.

_**-Flashback to 7:30p.m-**_

"Supreme Commander, this is the files that you have requested earlier," said one of the officers working directly under Satoshi in the Police Department, in his hand a large yellow envelope containing the information that the Supreme Commander had requested earlier.

"Good," he had said, his voice slightly hard. Unbeknownst to him, the officer gulped in fear.

Placing it on his desk, the officer gave Satoshi a quick salute and left his office in a hurry, fearing for his dear life while Inspector Saehara had to remain in the 'devil's' office, one hand twiddling his notebook containing the latest information that Satoshi had requested him to investigate a few days ago.

Flipping through the pages the files offered, he stopped dead at one of the pages, which is the page where the crimes committed by the criminal in the photo.

On the top right hand side of the page was a single passport-sized photo of a man in his late 40-ies. His eyes drooped across dull and dead-looking brown eyes while his hair is practically the color of mud and vomits; a strange mixture of brown and yellow, which is the popular color for immigrants and street tramps.

Surprisingly, yes, there are tramps in this little peaceful town of Azumano-Chou. Lord knows how they swam their way from the mainland to this little town that is practically counted as near-island condition, these tramps swiftly made their own little paradise in the dark alleyways, which is the Land of Mafias.

Yes, another surprise. There ARE Mafias in this little magical town of Azumano-Chou. They took in every single tramp of the city and hid them under their wings. Not even the police is able to take over the problems of the tramps, and the only way to keep the town in peace is by letting the Mafias have their way. Each and every single time, Hiwatari Satoshi, the Supreme Commander of Azumano-Chou, is unable to find a reason to take the Mafia business down, which is seriously ruining many Azumano-Chou's resident's health by drugs and all sorts of shit.

And the most serious of them all is starting to gain popularity. Prostitution.

And needless to say, they're out there recruiting young and beautiful candidates even at this moment. In a way of recruiting, they will stalk the candidates, aka victims, and take photos of them, then sending the taken photos back to the victim's house, to which they will somehow contact the Mafia and agree to go into prostitution. There are already 3 girls from Azumano High School that get caught in such shameless and sinful business.

And Maia may well be the next victim of prostitution.

Maia had told Satoshi that she felt there is a pair of eyes that kept watching her from somewhere afar on broad daylight and during the hours of darkness, and she finds them rather aggravating. If there is one thing that Satoshi would never do, is that he never doubt Maia's words. No, the word '_doubt Maia_' has never even crossed his mind at all, and when she broke to him such news, it instantly flared his curiosity.

And jealousy, along with the frightening, boiling feeling of raw wrath to which those who had experienced them first handed would refuse to tell the tale of it to anyone, for they would find themselves frozen from the sheer recollection of the horrific eyes of Hiwatari Satoshi.

_How dare they?_ He had thought at that time. _Stalking Maia on broad daylight? The cheek of those tramps!_

And right after that, he called Inspector Saehara to investigate the matters.

Due to the rising power of Mafias in Azumano-Chou, the family of the victims of prostitution had been blackmailed and promised pain beyond their imagination if they do not hand the candidates over to the Mafias, and they did, willingly at that! The victims were then taken back to their base to 'train' them up for their upcoming blooming business, and the one who trains them is none other than Mr. Kent, the big boss of the mafia.

Torturing and raping them numerous times until their body gets used to being fucked and done in by even the cruelest and sadistic customers, Mr. Kent will then present the newly trained candidate to his business friends, where they will then proceeds to 'test' and 'taste' the new candidate for themselves. Most of their feelings died along with their stolen virginity, and the victims become a true 'professional' prostitute. Only one ever escaped from their confinement wearing close to nothing but an old potato sack serving as a welcome mat, and she had related all of what had happened to her to Inspector Saehara, only to have her killed by an assassinator right when she is going to tell them the location where she was 'trained' and locked up behind an animal cage along with the rest of the 'candidates'.

And right before she died, she had told Inspector Saehara that the next candidate to join the rest of the victims in their animal cells is "the pretty girl with warm brown eyes", to which she had taken the initiative to grab one of her photos off the table before coming to the police department.

When Inspector Saehara informed his boss, Supreme Commander Hiwatari, of the cases that had sprung up the moment the escaped victim came to the police department, immediately, Satoshi felt uncomfortable. The worse of them all came when Inspector Saehara finally showed him the photo of the next victim.

"Her name is Akihiko Maia," Inspector Saehara said, reciting from his notebook. The sheer sound of her name recited as if she is a victim- which she is now- sent Satoshi's heart racing in fear. "She lived alone in a large blue apartment and goes to school in Azumano High School. Age 17, likes to shop for food, class-"

"Class 3-b and sits right next to me, yes, I know her, she's my neighbor and classmate," said Satoshi, breaking the droning sound of Inspector Saehara. Sighing, Satoshi rested his head in his hand, the other gripping Maia's photo, obviously taken without permission judging by the way and the angle the photo was taken by the stalker. For a moment, the elder Inspector looked quite surprised by his boss's antics. The way he gripped the photo hard enough to crumble it is enough to make the elder man gulp in anticipation and fear.

"Prepare the car," said Satoshi coldly. "I'm going home, you may leave."

Not willing to stay any longer in the office, Inspector Saehara raced out of Satoshi's office, heaving a long sigh of relief while being served hot coffee to sooth his nerve by his fellow comrades in the Police Department.

"How is he?" said one police officer, fear obvious in his eyes. He had been the very same officer that had delivered the large yellow envelope containing the stalker's information and connections with the Mafia, and the moment he heard Satoshi's voice saying 'Good' coldly, he had feared for the safe return of Inspector Saehara, his mentor an idol in the Police Department, second only to his cold-hearted mentor, Supreme Commander Hiwatari Satoshi.

"Scary," Inspector Saehara said, wiping cold sweats from his forehead and talking a long gulp from the mug of hot coffee. Other officers had gathered about him, listening to his story about his recent case, which had caught the eye of Supreme Commander Hiwatari, who had previously known to only pay attention to the artworks that Dark stole. "But he's even scarier today. Wonder what's his connection with the girl in the photo?"

Everyone showered him with looks of horror.

Blankly, he asked, "What?"

"You don't know about the girl?" asked one woman officer.

"What am I suppose to know?" said Inspector Saehara, feeling his cheeks redden at the sheer fact that somebody knows about something he doesn't know.

Lowering down his voice, the earlier officer whispered, "There are rumors saying that our Supreme Commander has gotten himself a girl from across the land!"

Lips pressed together to form a thin stern line, Inspector Saehara corrected the officer in a know-it-all tone, "You mean, he got himself a girl by going _across_ the land."

"No!" the officer replied. "That girl is a _transfer_ student!"

"Really! What's the big deal?" said Inspector Saehara, rolling his eyes.

"The girl in the photo is called Akihiko Maia, isn't she?" the officer said knowingly.

"Yeah," the elder Inspector replied in a slur. Realizing what his junior had said, he snapped his eyes open. "Wait, how did ja know 'bout that, Yukio?"

"Seriously Inspector," said the officer named Yukio, crossing his hands and posed an unbelievable expression. "_Can_ you get any _denser_ than _that_?"

"She's the girl rumored to be the girl that the Supreme Commander had his eyes on!" hissed the woman officer, Fukuda.

The Inspector's eyes widened to twice the size they usually would widen. "How in the name of our Holy Mother did ja know something like that?"

Flashing him a goofy smile, Yukio replied, "My lil' brother goes to that school, and the rumors about the two of them are flying around the ground of Azumano High School like wild fire!"

"Yeah! And I heard they're inseparable. Always sticks to each other and staring into each other's eyes dreamily, like newlyweds does to each other on their honeymoon." said Fukuda knowingly. Everybody knows that her daughter Fukuda Ritsuko is Harada Risa's best friend, famously known for their extreme love for gossips and pinks, so it's not a wonder why Fukuda would know so many things about her daughter's school rumors. 'Bet they did 'it' already…"

"Whether we did 'it' or not is none of your business," said a cold voice from behind them. Immediately, the group scattered and straightened up as if their backs are hit by lightning bolt. Military instincts kicked in, all of them hit the floor once with their boots and shouted all in unison, "Sir! Good Afternoon, Sir!"

Everyone gulped, unwilling to stare into the cold blue eyes of Supreme Commander Hiwatari Satoshi, who had obviously heard everything they had said.

"Well?" he said coldly, as if expecting to hear something from the cowering line of officers in the Azumano Police Department.

Some of them had sighed inwardly when Satoshi said that, because he is not focusing his attention on the line of officers. Instead, his eyes were feasting upon the sight of -you wouldn't believe it even if I said it- the trembling Inspector Saehara.

"Y-your orders, S-supreme Commander?" he quaked stupidly.

Satoshi's eyes fixed intently on him, as if waiting him to realize something that is definitely missing there.

The long pause came to a startling halt when Satoshi suddenly voiced out in a rather annoyed tone.

"Where's my car?"

When Inspector Saehara realized that he had gulped loudly right in front of the genius boy, he knew; he's in deep trouble for forgetting to call his driver.

Sighing as loudly as he could to emphasize how annoyed he was at the inspector's carelessness, he rubbed his forehead and waved the inspector away with all the poise and grace of a Supreme Commander of the Azumano Police Force.

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it myself. Get back to your work," said Satoshi, which, surprisingly, surprised everyone; each of the line of officers had their eyebrows rise in sync.

When Satoshi had left the group behind to find his car and driver, who was having a really nice chat with a lean tall lady with extremely long inviting legs, everyone turned towards each other.

Do you want to know why they're surprised?

Because Satoshi was never a person to go and find his car, which is entirely bullet, missile and later on he found out that it was even made to resist the power of tanks and car destroyers the size of the largest bulldozers, proof. For all they know, Hiwatari Satoshi _hated_ the car. Unless there is a real good reason behind it, Hiwatari Satoshi would _never_ personally go ahead to where his car is placed and not calling his driver.

"I bet something happened to our boy," said a cheerful voice from behind the squadron of retards.

"Yeah…"Fukuda murmured. Then suddenly, again, all of them hit the floor with their boots and shouted in unison, "SIR, GOOD AFTERNOON SIR!

"Ma, ma, pipe down will ya? It's after working hours, why are all of you still here?" said Hiwatari Kei, the Commissioner of the Azumano Police Force, who is also Satoshi's foster father.

Nobody answered him out of fear.

Rumors have soared throughout the Azumano Police Department that Hiwatari Kei is a ruthless and cold person, which explains why Hiwatari Satoshi is also a cold and ruthless person, like his foster dad, which is the sole reason why nobody dared to go against the Commissioner, again, rumored to be the youngest ever to be made a Commissioner, just like his adopted son, Hiwatari Satoshi, the youngest ever to be made into a Supreme Commander. Nobody go against the duo. Not unless they wanted to disappear from the surface of the earth.

And here he was, the Commissioner, smiling gleefully like the cat that got the canary and fed everyday with cream till he was bloated and thoroughly satisfied.

"It's not good to be gossiping around, especially when the topic of the juicy news concerns my son…"

Everyone gulped in unison. Within their cowardly heart, they knew, they're done for as soon as the Commissioner caught them gossiping about his son behind his son's back.

"So, my cute Satoshi-kun has gotten himself a girlfriend huh? I must see her. What was her name again?"

"Akihiko Maia des, sir!" shouted Yukio loudly.

"Okay, you may leave," said Commissioner Hiwatari, turning around and flipping his cell phone in style, deciding that today's information about his son is enough.

_**-End of Flashback-**_

**_8:34p.m  
Azumano-Chou region, Hiwatari Satoshi's residence._**

Opening the door that leads straight to his apartment, Satoshi is greeted openly by the cold air and darkness that existed as a constant guest in his apartment. Utterly worn out and tired over the day's work, he slumped onto the floor right after he had taken off his shoes and socks.

Only to be greeted once again by the smell of his sweat.

Groaning at the smell and the sticky feeling that made his white casual shirt clung to his body, he staggered off towards the direction of the shower room. Stripping and dropping his clothes into a basket by the bathroom door, Satoshi stepped into the shower and sighed heavenly at the feeling of warm water running and washing away all his sweat and tiredness, rejuvenating him by a little.

He decided to wear only his long cotton pants and soon after putting it on, he headed towards the one place that could satisfy his hunger; the kitchen.

He opened the fridge wide. There, standing pitifully lonely among nothing is a bottle of mineral water, near empty. Sighing, he opened one cabinet and revealed one whole cupboard full of instant noodles and ramen. Speaking about fresh and raw materials for the kitchen, he had none. However, he had plenty of instant and canned foods, which will do well enough for the moment. _Maybe some other day then I'll pay a visit to the market, _thought Satoshi.

Pouring hot water into a cup of instant noodle, he waited for minutes. Slurping loudly and noisily, he gulped down the instant noodle in seconds, soup and all. _I'll need 4 of these before I'm full_, he thought to himself.

Right now at this moment, a loud rumble echoed in Maia's room.

Currently, the time is swiftly approaching 8:43p.m, long past the usual time for Maia's dinner, which is 8p.m. Her hunger pangs woke her up and by instinct, beginning to walk towards the stairs that will inevitably lead her to her kitchen, where all the raw food and ingredients lays waiting to be made into her meal.

Just as she came down from her stairs, she heard a strange loud noise that closely resembled someone wiping the drool off their chin.

For once, she froze on her steps like what a normal human would do.

Eyes widened to near-saucer size, Maia slowly turned her head around and focused on the place where the strange noise was coming from.

And once again, the same strange drool-wiping noise sounded, and her eyes pinpointed towards the door that doesn't look like a door by the stairs.

_There's a door by the stairs that was never there before._

And, once again, she acted like what a normal human being ought to do under such circumstances; she freaked.

You might be wondering why she would make such a fuss over what seemed to be an entirely normal door. Well, it would be a normal door. I mean, it looks like a door. It has doorknobs, it looks like a door, and it's made of wood and slightly carved with curly floral veins. It would look like any other normal door if it wasn't built right into the wall like a painting and look like a painting with its large wildflower prints.

When she first moved in, she had thought that the 'door' is just like any other paintings that she had seen many of a times in art galleries that her brother had brought her along back when she was still living with him. Now that she knew that it was a door, she had instinctively reached a hand out to open the door, only to pause when something happened that made her angry with herself.

She imagines.

Yes, she imagines. Maia has an active brain, and I dare say a brain that is far too active for her own good. She would imagine the "what-would-happen-if" scenes. She had once 'talked' her way into making a famous psychiatrist into closing down his shop and retake his PhD when all she did is telling him her imagination on the "what-would-happen-if" scenes, which is equals to "what might happen in the future if-".

Then her brain starts to imagine with one of her hand pausing inches from the doorknob.

What if it was just a silly old broom closet? Then that would mean she had feared at nothing at the start! Maybe it was just a mouse sneaking around the broom and making the loud noises. Mouse was nothing in her eyes; they do not generate enough fear to make her go "KYAAAAAA! MOUSE!" like most girls would do. Then the thought of a cockroach came to her mind.

_She feared cockroach greatly._

That would be a horrible thing. But what if it wasn't a cockroach? What if it's a human instead?

Oh no, maybe it's a thief! Or worse, a rapist! Waiting to pounce on her the moment she opens the door and then she'll be pulled into the closet and raped by the rapist over and over again until she gave birth to triplets?

But then she thought, it couldn't be a rapist. Maybe the broom closet is just a small and tight space that it couldn't possibly fit a rapist and her along. Who knows it could just be like what many people would often say "There's a skeleton in everyone's closet."

Skeleton? She thought.

Mother Mary! A skeleton in the closet is even _worse_ than a rapist in a closet! God knows how long the poor thing had been lying there! Maybe it was there for a year or two, or maybe it has been there since this house is built, cemented into the walls and leaving only the skull and one arm dangling out of its cemented grave. Holy, maybe it's just a toy skeleton that the previous owner left coz he's a teacher or doctor of the sort…

_Or maybe_, she thought. Maybe it's a Fucking Toy that the previous owner brought from the net and used it to satisfy his lust when there is no woman available around his house! Oh, there are bound to have sperms and semen flowing out of the Fucking Toy. Then she would have to clean it before it grow mould…

But what if it's a fresh corpse somebody left behind…?

_Oh, shut it Maia!_ She thought to herself. _It's just a freaking' cupboard built onto the wall! Just open it, check whatever it is, and close it then you may have your dinner!_

And so, gathering her courage that is raised to its peak, Maia wrenched the door open (not even bothering to check whether it's locked or not) and peeked in.

She never expected that opening a door would be that exciting.


	9. 9: Dinner's and Realization

A/N: Goodlord! I have no idea how long since I've updated this. I know all of you must be waiting for ages and possibly eons for an update, and now, here they are! (A/N-Timidly-:Please don't be mad that it's just one...?)These days, it's just sooo hard to find some time to just sit down, relax myself and just come up with an idea to write my fanfictions. Colleges nowadays is just so frustrating and annoying, and mine would have the nerve to actually go as far as to overtake the student's rightful rest day; Sunday, and fill them up for classes. Shit. I hate my college. Bloodsuckers!

And without further ado, I'll let you to enjoy my story, and I hoped you'll like this chappie just as much as I liked it. :-)!

**9-Dinners and Realizations**

**Are you sure that eating this much of that disgusting thing is healthy, Satoshi-sama? **Krad said to Satoshi, his voice, although sounded like the usual hard and proud tone he used to carry, give the impression that the fallen angel within is a little worried.

Satoshi ignored Krad's remarks and continued to slurp his instant noodles, now on his 2nd.

Krad planned to ignore Satoshi, but when his master keep on slurping the strings of dipped and dried flour like there's no tomorrow left to slurp it, as Krad labeled instant noodles, he invaded Satoshi's mind again.

**You might as well get out of this house and eat at a nearby restaurant instead of eating this piece of junk-**

"What I ate is none of your business, Krad," said Satoshi out loud, terribly annoyed that he had to hear Krad every single time he's indulging in what the fallen angel labeled as 'junk'. There probably have been more than a hundredth time he had taken instant noodles as his dinner, and so far, his health has not declined.

But he did get lighter on his weight; sometimes he can't even keep his pants up on his waist without them dropping back down onto the floor right after he had pulled them on.

**Of course it's my business, Satoshi-sama**, Krad said, a little bothered by what Satoshi had said to him. **You are my master, and my host as well. I want you to be healthy lest my taking over of your body becomes the cause of your premature death. Young people these days…** He added, sighing dramatically within Satoshi. **They just don't take care of their health anymore like in the old days…**

"Don't bother me when I'm eating," snapped Satoshi. "Hearing your voice when I'm eating is just the same as watching people vomiting right in front of me…"

Krad clicked his tongue in disapproval. **Such language, Satoshi-sama…**

Satoshi would have very much liked to retort back that his ears is functioning very well and that he had heard and taken the privilege to remember and learn such offensive words from his school when a sudden creaking sound caught his ears and attention. Turning his head towards the source of the sound, he stared into the shadows, relying entirely on the soft moonlight that had found its way into his apartment.

There was a door…that is not entirely a door, on second thought. He remembered well that it had been a harmless painting of a floral and carved door hung on the walls minutes ago; hell, he even passed by the door painting! He was sure that it was a painting, and that he's alone in his apartment, unless you count his creep of a foster father living with his foster son a normal thing.

_No,_ Satoshi thought. He is very sure that he's alone in the apartment.

Unless…

Unless that painting is another Hikari's artwork!

But no! He knew all the Hikari artwork from the minute he was born, and that painted door is definitely not among the Hikari's artwork. It couldn't have been the wind that moved the painting, and it sounded too much like a creaking old door.

That is, until the person he lest expected to see stood right behind the painted door, one arm pushing open the painted door, which, upon closer inspection, is really a door. Her expression is one of horror expectations, as if opening the door would lead to some horror movie's legend comes alive.

Blue eyes clashes with dark brown eyes.

Both raised their respective eyebrows so high that they're in danger of losing into their respective hairlines.

Instead of shouting, "WHY ARE YOU HERE!" like most people would, Maia chooses to do the opposite and ask a real random question.

"Is that," she asked, too surprise to voice out all of her sentence. "By any chance, what I think it is?"

Maia was pointing at what Satoshi is holding. Looking down into his hand, he realized that he is still holding on to his instant noodle cup, one hand with the chopsticks already gripping a mouthful of noodles, ready to plunge it into the safety of his mouth to be digested by his still growling stomach.

_What she thinks it is?_ Satoshi thought. _Does she mean the fact that it is an instant noodle cup? Then it sure is._

"I'm afraid so." He answered bluntly.

He never expected his answer to be the 'ON' button for Maia's rather mouthful and babbling part to come alive.

The effect, to say it simply, was immediate, for Maia strode towards him in huge strides, covering the distance between them in a few steps.

"For _Pete's_ _**sake**_," Maia screeched loudly, her voice rose to a few notes higher with each word.

Before he could stop himself, Satoshi blurted out daringly, "Who's Pete?"

And regretted it.

If possible, Maia's eyes widened another inch, as if ready to devour him whole. "Do you have any idea what the hell instant noodles are made of! They're strings of flour dipped in wax God damn it! They're _**junks**_!"

**For once in my life, I agree with a girl.** Krad sighed within Satoshi.

Seeing Maia towering above him (Maia is standing right in front of Satoshi while Satoshi is still sitting on his couch.), Satoshi feel the need to explain to the enraged Maia. He didn't want her to start giving him an earful for god knows hours end.

He had heard from Saehara that it has been known internationally- hell, not just internationally, it's been told by the _whole_ _**universe**_ that woman, female, girl or whatever being that has no penis are known to give men an earful once in a while, and when it's a _once-in-a-while_, the result won't be pretty.

It would always end in a very nasty way.

"I can't say I like this thing," started Satoshi's explanation. "-but the fact that I forgot to buy groceries this afternoon and that I'm busy as hell in catching a thief pushed me into this situation."

"Going so far as to have four of that _junk_!" Maia shrieked angrily, ignoring Satoshi's brief wince at the sound of her high note.

Being a singer has its advantages, and in Maia's case, it's threatening people with the highest note she could muster with her voice.

Bracing himself, Satoshi said in a near mumble tone, "It's that number or I'll stay hungry for the night."

Clicking her tongue loudly, Maia said tersely curtly, "Like I'll believe that piece of crap you came up with."

Satoshi opened his mouth to say something back to her, but was distracted when her hand went near his pants and, for a while, he thought that she is thinking to do something 'dirty' to him.

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she grabbed the string attached to the front of his pants that could be adjusted, pulled and tied to the right size that allowed the pants to just hang precariously on his hip instead of sticking on his hips like most rubber pants, accentuating the deep 'V' on his hip. Jerking him towards the open painted door, Maia pulled Satoshi through the painted door roughly and tumbled right into her part of her apartment.

There are many ways to get him into her apartment. Ask, invite, and threaten. But Maia did none of those. Curious as to why she would rather pull onto the string attached to his pants, Satoshi asked innocently, "Why are you pulling my pants?"

Had he not controlled himself, he would have bumped into her and send her smacking right onto the floor and kissed it when she stopped abruptly. Turning around and sending her long, now loose dark brown locks smacking right onto his right ribs, Maia asked grimly, "Would you prefer I pull your ears then?" Taking note to glare, Maia growled venomously, "'**_Coz I'm just _**_dying _**_to do that_**."

For all the time he had known Maia, there was one thing that he kept in his mind; _it is not wise to anger Maia._

"No, the pant's fine," he answered quickly.

Huffing angrily, Maia turned around and, again, sends her long dark brown locks smacking right onto the same spot on his right ribs (the force of it is enough to make Satoshi wince a little, though I doubt he would admit it for his life and pride.) and continued to pull him towards her kitchen. "I don't care what shit you're going to spill from that gorgeously damn mouth of yours (Satoshi lifted his eyebrow.) and I don't want to hear a shit about 'No, it's fine!', and I don't care if you're being the damn hell shy and feeling awkward, the point is, I don't care about anything and you better sit down here and don't move!"

Satoshi sat down immediately on the high wooden dark blue chair that Maia pointed.

"If I find you gone I shall box your ear," leaning down so that both she and Satoshi stared at each other at an eye-to-eye level, Maia whispered acidly, "_**Mercilessly**_."

Satoshi kept obediently quiet.

But there is still something that he cannot fathom himself.

He had known all along and all this while that Maia is a real random person. She could say one thing and one topic in a minute, and the next second the topic would have directed and swerved right onto another topic. _Like a tornado_, thought Satoshi, as he remembered the few times that such a thing had happened. There was one time when Maia was talking to Satoshi about how sad and guilty she was for accidentally stepped on his shoes. She had been on the verge of crying when suddenly, she invited Satoshi to come along with her to Café Bluebottle for another round of Blackforest Cake, as if she had never been on the verge of crying and that she had never feel guilty earlier.

But he never expected her to be _**this**_ random, going as far as to totally forget the fact that there is a door in the middle of both his and her apartment that connected the two separated apartment.

Krad, on the other hand, is _terribly_ impressed with Maia.

**If I could just have half of her attitude, I'm sure you'll be much more obedient to me, Satoshi-sama, **the fallen angel had said, making Satoshi snort loudly in reply.

_Even if you have it, you won't be able to have me obediently sitting around like a dog waiting for your orders._

**At least you'll listen. Or was the reason for your obedience is because of the differences in gender? I do hope you realize that Maia is a beautiful girl-**

_It's not that!_

**See? Don't try to lie through me, Satoshi-sama. I am, after all, the voices at the back of your mind, and in so, I am able to have access to almost all of your thoughts; that is, if you allowed and let your guard down for a moment, and you did whenever the topic regarding your lover surfaces…**

_She's not my lover!_

…_**yet**_**. Mark my words, you couples are going to be lovers soon enough.**

_You're not going to do anything to her even if she becomes my lover._

**Strange to say, in a way or two, that little human lover of yours have my absolute trust. Maybe she's not a full human in one way-**

_Even so, she will be protected by me. _

Then a sudden thought struck him.

_Tomorrow's Saint White Day._

He mentally made a note to torture the fallen angel when he heard him laugh behind his head. Clearly, the angel knew what Saint White Day means for the prodigy.

Saint White Day is a day that is practically the worse in his life, excluding Valentine's Day. To him, that day is worse than giving a ribbon to someone he loves.

He shuddered at the thought of _thousands_ of eyes feasting on him.

Then something made him broke out of his little reverie; the smell of something spicy, sour, salty and sweet all at the same time. His mouth instantly watered at the wonderful aroma.

Two identical clattering sounds of plates hitting the table right in front of him surprised him a little, making him jump slightly. He instantly prayed that Maia had not seen him did that.

Maia didn't.

In fact, the dark brown-haired girl is busy bustling around her charming little blue kitchen; preparing bowls, plates and spoons and chopsticks, setting the table and bringing another pot of hot soup onto the counter, where they will be dining on her bar-like tables.

For once, Satoshi is speechless.

He never knew that a glutton like Maia would be able to satisfy her own hunger in her own way; cooking.

Maia noticed the way Satoshi looked at her, then at the dishes she had made, and then back at her again, a look of pure disbelief plastered on his face.

"What?" asked Maia, instantly stopping Satoshi's now rhythmical stares of disbelief. "Never came across a girl that could cook as well as me to save hungered lives?"

"Yes." Satoshi answered truthfully, eyes still staring at all the dishes on the table.

There was a long pregnant pause.

Only did Satoshi realize what he did.

He had blatantly said aloud that he had never come across a girl that could cook. He thought that girls only learn how to cook when they're almost getting married, and that all those lovers bento he had seen girls giving the boys they like at school is from the girl's mother's handiwork. He had seen from Risa's cruel ways of giving hope to Daisuke, who still has a crush on Risa back then. She had openly said that she wanted him to be the first one to try her homemade bento when all she wanted was for him to taste it first and tell her how did it taste like so that when she is all better she would give her homemade bento to Dark. That's when he had started to dislike Risa's ways of using and manipulating men with her looks.

Which doesn't look at all pretty like all the boys had been talking about; it's just the extra accessories on her hair that made her look as if she's cute. Hell, Maia could look as cute as any magazine girls if she wanted to. Even without any accessories on her and just a simple ponytail, she could pull off a look that attracts many men.

Which, strangely, irritated Satoshi himself.

He looked up slowly, afraid of seeing any flying hot pans from Maia's direction.

Only to see Maia's amused face.

"Well, you're not the first one to say that, Sato-kun, it's not uncommon for someone to think that I, the infamous clumsy Maia, could cook" Maia said cheekily, snickering when she saw how Satoshi looked as crestfallen as if his biggest secret has been leaked out into the whole wide world via the most ridiculous method or something. He had been tricked, for God's sake! He had never been tricked by anyone in his whole life! Tricked! He's been tricked for feeling guilty!

In actuality, Maia just wanted to see the look of horror on Satoshi's face by keeping quiet and pretending as if she's insulted when she didn't feel insulted at all.

And his mouth, he thought to himself. When had his mouth become able to spew anything out so truthfully! He could kill himself just by opening his mouth!

Just then, his stomach chooses that time to growl out loudly, screaming for the food and all the nutrition lay out on the table in front of him.

**Or you could just save yourself by opening your mouth and fill it with all these wonderful food, Satoshi-sama, since you're so hungry.**

Krad snickered within Satoshi, and in embarrassment, Satoshi retorted back at Krad internally.

_Shut up, Krad! _

"Well, what are you waiting for?" said Maia loudly to Satoshi, who's head is lowered and hidden from view, guilt overtaking him for saying something so pride-hurtful to Maia.

"Oh, for guilt riddance sake!" Maia exclaimed to Satoshi, slapping his back hard and loud. "Let's just eat all this food before they're rotten and become inedible! Come, come, open your mouth and say Ahh!"

Satoshi raised up his head to say that he's sorry when a chopstick of meat come flying into his mouth.

Maia smiled widely beside him, chopstick in her hand.

In order to not insult or embarrass himself or Maia any further, he chewed the piece of meat in his mouth.

And came to realize that they tasted wonderful.

"Are they tasted to your liking?" Maia asked him, her eyes round and wide with anticipated commentary from the blue-eyed prodigy, whose eyes are almost as wide as hers.

Satoshi said the only thing that passed his mind that moment. "They tasted…very nice."

"That's wonderful then!" cheered Maia happily, surprising Satoshi himself. "From now on, breakfast, lunch afternoon tea, dinner and supper, you would come here and have it with me, and if you can't, I'll make a bento for you."

Satoshi paused. He momentarily contemplating what should he reply; should it be a yes or a no. If it was a no, he was afraid that it would hurt Maia's pride, and since Maia is the type of girl that likes to imagine and, being such a random girl, he was worried that it would make her think all sorts of silly things like as if she's making a love potion for him and have him pass it off as a soup or something.

Or, he could just say yes. That would solve many problems and save himself some regrets later. But he was afraid of something else too. If she were to make him a bento, other girls would think that it was okay for them to give him bentos, and his shoe compartment at school would start to pile up high with bentos. He shuddered at the thought.

And so, he came up with this;

"I don't think that's such a good idea…" Satoshi replied politely, not using the tone to reject, but to decline the offer.

There was an eerie pause.

"You don't like my dishes?" Maia asked innocently, eyes wide with confuse over the situation. He had said that her dishes were nice, and that would mean it would be good enough for him then. If that's so, why won't he just come to her house and eat? It's just meals for God's sake!

Hastily, Satoshi explained to her, "No, no. I do like them. I like them a lot. But my coming here would be inconvenient to you. You are a transfer student, and you're going to live here for a while, so money and food are important to you. Plus, living in this area requires lots of money as they are quite the private lands."

There was another eerie pause.

"But I have money," Maia answered innocently. "I have too much money for my own good and that I am required to finish a given amount every month or else my brother's going to be here to drag me home."

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at the excuse.

"I don't want to leave here, and I absolutely don't want to leave yo- I mean, this house," said Maia quickly, praying to whatever Gods there are above there so that Satoshi wouldn't hear what she had been meaning to say.

But he did. And he kept quiet at that.

"But-"

"Please, Sato-kun," Maia pleaded, intercepting Satoshi. "Just treat it as a way to help me live longer here. I'll buy lots and lots of food, and I'll cook for you too. All you have to do is help me finish them."

Satoshi furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "But still-"

"Eating alone is no fun," Maia said simply, a strange note of loneliness and truth in her tone, as if admitting the simple fact of eating alone is something worthy to be shameful of. "No matter how good the food taste, it still tasted tasteless in my mouth if I have them alone."

Glancing at him, she saw that he is looking at her, and she quickly lowered her head again. Rather timidly, she said in a small voice, "I need someone to accompany me in having meals."

When there was no reply, she glanced up slowly, and saw that he is still looking at her. Gulping, she look up at him through her lashes and said in a low voice, "Please?"

Still, Satoshi gave no reply.

Putting her hands together as if she's praying, she summoned her courage to act the 'adorable' Maia, using her infamous puppy eyes which worked on her brother and cousins and uncles all the time.

"Pretty please, Sato-kun?" Maia said in a low and timid voice, cocking her head sideways, her eyes wide like a puppy's.

"Alright, alright!" Satoshi exclaimed, putting his hands up to indicate that he surrendered to her. "Just stall that look of yours away."

Maia cheered happily.

"Yay! I know you won't be able to resist my dishes!" she said gleefully.

_And my puppy eyes_, she added in her thought.

_**The Next Day-6.50a.m**  
**Azumano-Chou region, Silver Larkhill.**  
**No Trespassing Allowed. Private V.I.P Grounds**._

And here it is, the almost-end of spring; a wonderful word of choice for the teenagers in Azumano-Chou. The season where the Sakura blossoms would spiral downward in a romantic fall of baby pink petals, blocking some of the electric eye shocks that sometimes overflowed from couples and hit the nearby bystander onlooker. I must say, the amount of passersby being hit by unsuspecting electric shockwaves has risen alarmingly, and has started to become an annoyance in the small sleepy town of Azumano-Chou.

I forgot to mention that Azumano-Chou is quite- no, supposed to be a VERY magical town.

In actual fact there was still a month more to go before the end of spring truly arrived, but the teenagers around Azumano-Chou had started to count the days down to summer's day; where they could walk as naked as they could as long as their nipple and their pubic hairs are hidden from public, regardless of the ridiculous prices of bikinis even if the outfit is only a small piece of cloth the size of an egg.

They were that excited to expose their nakedness. Also, this countdown is the sole reason why the gym and work out areas are loaded with sweating and stinky teenagers trying to burn off their fats and building muscles.

All for summer; that has yet to come.

Which brings to the little lovely and full of wonders event, the Saint White Day, where sometimes unsuspecting girls or boys would accidentally choke themselves on white ribbons.

Saint White Day. A day celebrated by all ages in Azumano-Chou. All you had to do is wear white, and awaits a ribbon to be tied around your neck or your wrist.

It's just that wonderful.

While dressing up, Satoshi kept glancing at the white ornament on his desk, thinking to himself and picturing a scene of him presenting her the ornament.

It was a white rose corsage that he had made himself in less than an hour. Considering his prodigy level, making something out of plain nothingness is his specialty. He had added some strong magic on it, so that in case something happened, she would be able to use this to defend herself on days that her power to reject magic is weak; such as today.

The long awaited Saint White Day.

_Should I really give it to her? Satoshi thought to himself, once again thinking and picturing a scene in his head. _

Which Krad saw clearly and perfectly.

**You should, Satoshi-sama, **Krad advised**, or else she'll be others soon considering her rather dense self. Plus, it could protect her from your many jealous fan girls. **

For once, Satoshi did not reprimand Krad for barging into his private part of the mind.

_It'll be dangerous if anyone knew I'm chasing after her, and this could provide a temporary protection. Plus, the Mafias have not stopped their prostitution scheme yet, and Maia is most probably their would-be next victim. _

There was a slight pause in the air, and he stopped tying his white necktie, lost in picturing a scene where he would find her in an extremely broken state, too late in saving her and everyone.

_I wish that no harm would befall her. _

**Hoho, finally, you've admitted to yourself, Satoshi-sama, that the girl's good enough for you?**

Perhaps it has not been a good idea to NOT reprimand Krad for barging into his private part of the mind.

_Shut up._

**I told you so. **

Just then, he heard a loud creak and someone muttering about getting the door oiled. Looking down from his balcony-like upstairs bedroom, he saw an already-dressed Maia wearing her blue abstract-painted apron over her uniform while holding a wooden spatula.

Upon seeing him, Maia smiled widely.

"Morning Sato-kun!" Maia chirped happily, flashing him a big bright smile. "Breakfast is almost ready! Come down when you're done!"

He watched as Maia skipped back into the painting-like door, humming a tune to herself.

_She seemed happy today_, thought Satoshi, smiling lightly himself at her innocent antics.

**Too happy for a would-be victim of the Mafias prostitution scheme, I'm afraid, Satoshi-sama. It's not a wonder why the Mafias would choose her rather than that Risa. **

Satoshi sighed intently at Krad's remarks.

_The Mafias are dirty beings,_ Satoshi said in his mind, intended for Krad to understand the direness of the situation_. They had been mocked, humiliated and treated like they're nothing more than rotten meat in the dumpsite. The victims of their prostitution scheme are the exact opposite of what they are, and they had an inclination to sully and befoul the innocent pure white self. They're like a bottle of ink ready to scar a piece of fresh white parchment._

**They are beings that shouldn't exist in Azumano-Chou, the most sacred and original magical lands in the world.**

_I had a favor to ask of you, Krad, if you would suppress your desire to destroy the people around me every time I ask you to do something for me._

**I have a strange feeling that I would comply to your wish completely this time, Satoshi-sama.**

_You would, once you've heard what deals I am going to make with you._

**_7.20a.m  
Azumano-Chou region, Public Red Brick Walkway._**

Maia noticed that there are a lot of girls staring at the boy walking beside her. They're either giggling or trying to catch a glimpse of him. There was one girl who called him over, and when Satoshi gave them no response and resumed to walking with Maia, the girls who called him over giggled loudly with her friends, saying something about him being the 'coolest' guy in Azumano-Chou, branding him the Cool Prince.

Maia's face scrunched up as if she had run headlong through the brick wall when she had first heard of it.

Maia felt that her blood is beginning to boil at the sound of that ridiculous title they had given Satoshi. _He is not cool_, thought Maia. _He is just being indifferent to those that he doesn't know! I bet he's just treating them like most people did with strangers, and they are just over-confident that their plain looks could win him over to them and that he will look at them more!_

Then Maia realized something slowly. She was feeling angry when other girls are trying to flirt with Satoshi.

Her eyes widened slowly but surely, her mouth forming a round little 'O' at the realization that she is angry when girls flirt with him and she is very sure that the feeling she had felt is an emotion that usually drives couples crazy.

Jealousy.

_Oh my Mother Mary __**Lord**__!_ Maia screamed in her mind, not aware that Satoshi is staring at her, finding her rapid change in expressions highly amusing.

"Maia?" Satoshi asked, not wanting others to see Maia's amusing reaction to whatever she was thinking at the moment. He wanted himself to be the only one to have seen her in her current antics, and he wanted to savor the moment and expressions to himself, which leads him to be conscious that he is being possessive.

When there was no response from her, he placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.

And shock her a little.

The comeback from that action is immediate.

"I'M NOT JEALOUS WITH THE FLIRTING GIRLS!" Maia screamed out aloud, unaware that her voice is as loud as a screeching chipmunk on a microphone.

There was a long surprised silence along the walkway. It looked as if everyone were preparing to go to a town event and were shocked by a sudden high-pitched sound that sounded more like a chipmunk than a person trying to talk.

Surprisingly, nobody heard what she is talking about.

Krad howled out loud with laughter within Satoshi.

"So, why are you so certain that you're not jealous of the flirting girls, Maia?" asked Satoshi, trying hard to not let it all out like Krad did within him.

Because Maia haven't calmed down from her previous shock, she answered Satoshi by blurting out what she had been thinking at the moment.

"Becauseyou'relookingatthemandwhenIsaidI'mnotjealousmeansthatI'mnotjealousbecauseyou'!"

For an ordinary someone, it would be like hearing a jumbled pile of words; but not for our prodigy with ears as sharp as a bat.

He heard it as clear as daylight.

Maia looked quite horrified with herself, a hand slapped over her mouth as if what she had blurted out were a grave mistake. Her eyeballs were wide with chagrin and looked every bit like someone had choked her on the neck.

She is quite convinced that she looked like the squid which had their eyes squeezed out forcefully when she is preparing them for cooking.

Krad howled even louder when he saw Maia's look of horror through Satoshi's sight.

Satoshi merely stare at Maia; hoping that she won't notice his slight twitch in the mouth. (A/N: Poor boy, he tried so hard to suppress a good laugh…)

Then her eyes fell on the white rose corsage that sat delicately on her wrist, given by none other than the grinning blue-eyed prodigy, having tied it onto her wrist tenderly himself and sealed it there with a kiss. The memory of it brought a flush to her pale face.

**_Flashback to 7.10a.m  
__Azumano-Chou region, Public Red Brick Walkway._**

Satoshi exited from Maia's part of the apartment, preparing to go to high school. For once, he felt extremely light and energized; probably from his full stomach that Maia had insisted he had before he goes to school with her.

Fishing out the white rose corsage from his pocket, he hid it in his large hand and put it behind him, just when Maia finished locking her door and turning around.

"Come on, let's go to school," chirped Maia happily, happy that for once, her breakfast is not taken alone, and that it tasted extra good today even if it's just plain bread. eggs, bacons and salad.

Suddenly, Satoshi stopped her, aware of her confused look but choose to ignore it for he knew she would understand later on. Wanting to give her his white rose corsage in the way he wanted, he stood on the bottom of the stairs while letting Maia standing on the top stairs.

"I must ask you, Maia," started Satoshi, the white rose corsage still wrapped safely in his hand. "Have you had a good night of sleep yesterday?"

His heart accelerated at the thought of her accepting the corsage, and is quite confident that she won't decline anything from him. But the slight thought of her rejecting his gift were still there deep within the core of his mind. He pushed it into the back of his head as it tried to surface back and destroy his confidence.

There was a slight pause from Maia, blinking in surprise at the blue-eyed prodigy standing at the bottom of the stairs. Nonetheless, she tried to think back whether she had a good night of sleep. Other than dreaming about a field of white roses and the blue-eyed prodigy holding her hand in an inviting way, she didn't have nightmares like she usually have before she came here to Azumano-Chou.

"I did so," Maia answered slowly, nodding slightly in answer. "That's so kind of you to ask. Thank you." Then there was a slight pause before Maia continued, "However, I must ask, why the sudden formalities?"

Smiling generously to her, Satoshi stepped forward one step and look up at her. "There is something that I had been meaning to give you today."

Maia's eyes widened in surprise; not convinced with the ability of her hearing that Satoshi is giving her something. She repeated to him so as to not mistake what she had heard, "Something from you to me?"

Nodding once, Satoshi replied, "Yes." He is pleased when he saw Maia's eyes twinkled happily, a small, hopeful smile on her lips. He felt extremely confident.

Extending his hand like a gentleman asking for a lady's hand to dance, Satoshi bowed a little and look up at the dark brown haired girl, "Would you please do me the honor of placing your hand on mine for a while?"

The response is immediate. Even Satoshi is surprised at the speed Maia had placed her hand in his. Maia had realized that she looked extremely eager, and tried to retract her hand from his, intending to gather back whatever pride she has dropped when she acted like that. Still, Satoshi's hand is faster, and kept her hand wrapped in his, squeezing it slightly, a wide grin on his face when he saw Maia turning red.

In truth, she won't even mind it, and would be even gladder if he asked her to place her hand on his forever.

"Would you close your eyes for me?" asked Satoshi once again, a smile grazing his lips and eyes fixated on the still rather red Maia.

In a small voice, Maia replied shyly, not daring to look at Satoshi, "Willingly."

As she closed her eyes and pondering what is he going to give her, she felt a long silk-like strands brushed against her wrist, which felt a lot like ribbon, and yet not a ribbon at the same time. It was something harder and tougher than a ribbon, like a leather strap, and yet it felt as smooth and silky like silk.

"Alright ," Satoshi's voice ranged out in the darkness of her closed eyelids. "You may open your eyes now."

The first thing Maia sees when she opened her eyes were Satoshi's mop of blue hair and dazzling blue eyes looking at her, and wished that every time she opened her eyes, he would be the first she saw in her vision.

Then Maia noticed something again. There is definitely something wrong with her to be constantly wishing for Satoshi's presence and excuses to be with him. It's not that she didn't like him- She liked him a lot! But…to be constantly thinking of him since yesterday…It's not quite right in her opinion.

Unless she's in love with him, Maia thought simply, and then paused in realization.

She? In love with Hiwatari Satoshi? The young and beautiful prodigy Supreme Commander of Azumano-Chou's Police Department!

Before she had time to loss her nerve, Maia finally noticed the gift that Satoshi had tied on her wrist and gasped in surprise.

It was the purest white she has ever seen; so white that it seemed to rival the fluffy clouds on a fine blue sky. The handmade silk rose petals were in their full bloom, and everything was in white, that included the leaves of the rose. Within the core of the rose, there is a blue crystal that looked oddly like blue diamond, and it made the rose looked delicate yet exceedingly breathtakingly ethereal, and the blue reminds her of Satoshi's eyes.

The band that is used to hold the rose and tied to her wrist is a white silk ribbon with molten blue floral vines embroidery. She touched it, expected to feel it's hard and frozen surface, and was surprised to feel that it was cool and silky, exactly like a real rose despite its pearl sheen-like surface. There was a light gust of sea breeze passed by, and the rose petals swayed along with the wind softly, as if it were alive.

And it looked exactly like the rose she had dreamed about yesterday. Flashes of it came back to her rapidly; of Satoshi holding her hand exactly like their current position; of Satoshi smiling at her; of Satoshi plucking a pearl sheen-like rose with a drop of blue crystal in its core center and giving it to her; of her wishing to him that this is not a dream and that the wonderful rose would be there with her everyday as a proof that she had been to this wonderful field of white roses with him.

She could feel her heart beats faster than its usual tempo just by thinking that Satoshi had made her dream come true by giving her something that she had wished from her dream.

"I made it yesterday," Satoshi said softly, not wanting to disrupt her admiration, "And I hope you'll like it."

"It's so beautiful…" Maia breathed, appearing spell bounded by the rose on her wrist and the fair large hand that still grasped on her hand delicately. "I love it, Satoshi…"

Looking up at him, Maia whispered sincerely from the bottom of her heart, "Thank you…"

Satoshi raised both of his eyebrows at the mention of his name. It's practically the first time she called him by his full name, and his heart soared contentedly.

"Sato-kun," Maia started, first staring at the rose tied on her wrist delicately, then at Satoshi, "I know it's rude, but may I ask what this is for?"

Satoshi merely smiled. Not taking his eyes off hers, he lowered his mouth onto the inside of her wrist and whispered hotly, "For your generosity of inviting me to meals from today onwards."

He kissed her radial pulse while keeping his eyes on her, smirking widely when she turned another interesting shade of red.

He had sealed the protection magic on Maia with his breath and kiss.

**_End of Flashback.  
Back to Present Time._**

When it comes to having physical touch with the blue-haired young man beside her, it would definitely flare her shyness and embarrass her to no ends, much to the delight and amusement of the young Supreme Commander. She had wondered why she would be so sensitive to a man's touch when she had held hands with her brothers and cousins for all of her life. Hell, she even sleeps beside her brother at her current age when she woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, who would always offer the comforter to his large bed for her whenever she came into his room. She would then cuddle up to her big brother, and he will pat and stroke her hair softly and gently, lulling her to sleep.

Speaking of nightmare, she had a nice sleep yesterday; a very nice night of rest. That ought to be a nice change once in a while from a constant nightmare of her dying and slashed open in the gut and being chased after by a loud booming voice that belonged to something powerful since she had came here to Azumano-Chou.

It frightened her.

But when she saw the blue-eyed prodigy, all of her fears were taken away, as if they were chased away at his very presence. She loved the feeling of being fearless, and she could feel that Satoshi possessed the feeling she had been searching from someone other than her Uncle Kent and her beloved brother, Kira; the feeling of Absolute Safety.

It sounded like something ridiculous if she were to tell someone, but to her, it was something she has started to search since her parents had died. The only rare few people in her life that has that Absolute Safety are her Uncle Kent and her brother Kira, both of whom cannot be with her for eternity as someone she could share her life, soul, body and heart with. None of the people on the many streets of Tokyo and Azumano-Chou has the feeling she is looking for, and now, she could feel it as clear as daylight.

Satoshi's very being is pulsating with the feeling of Absolute Safety, and she loved it all the more when he touched her, the raw feeling of being protected by something or someone magical flowed into her very being, touching and protecting her core and soul by giving her the feeling as if she were flying in the air or walking on clouds without an ounce of fear of falling down from it.

For all these while, Satoshi had made her happy and contented just by being in her presence, but there is something bothering in her thoughts. Did she just like his presence and the Absolute Safety feeling he has, or does she truly love him for him and not because of any other reasons?

She rethought back the first time she had met him; it was at the Café Bluebottle, where Kiku-Obaa-Chan had introduced the then unfamiliar blue-eyed beautiful man, and in a single day, found out just how nice a person can be even if they're slightly rude and sometimes peeved her a little. He allowed her to kiss him, and she had drunkenly had a one-night-stand with him, who then broke down and apologized to her for raping her. She remembered how warm and soft and gentle he was with her when her back is fried by Risa's stupid tea; she remembered how worried he looked and how warm her heart felt when she saw that expression he had on his face; she remembered how angry she was when Risa wounded him; she remembered how Satoshi had gave her a piggyback rid, walking slowly so as to not disturb her resting behind his broad, warm back. Everything about him is so wonderful, and he had given her so many sweet memories worth so much more than anything in the world. She realizes that these are things that only a person in love would think about. Which made her realizes something of the essence.

"I'm in love with Satoshi," Maia whispered the truth to herself, surprised at her little realization.

She didn't realize that Satoshi had ears the sensitivity of a blind bat, and heard everything she has said.

Satoshi smiled in triumph, beginning to formulate his plan for the day.

**A/N: Well, well, WELL? How was it? How was it? How was it? Oh dear, I'm starting to bounce in my seats! I'm uploading this, and I wrote this, and yet I feel so excited as if I am the one who is going to read it! **

**Review please?**


	10. 10: Saint White Day

A/N: Hello Folks! I've updated! Yay! (Despite my having going to the extent of enduring violent coughs and flu to write this. Nevertheless, WRITING is my passion! And I do hate to keep those who liked this story waiting _") From now on, I'll try my very very best to update as soon as possible. I promise. I promise. I promise! College's life is getting tougher and tougher, and I can barely keep up with all the workloads and ridiculous schedules demanding us to go to class for more than 12 hours a day. Seriously, meaning one class could last up to 6 hours straight. So tired of college. Wish I could just quit it and be a writer for the rest of my life. But first, gotta earn enough money to do that, so it means college, graduate, job. *Sigh* Really, life is never easy.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review~!

* * *

**10-Saint White Day**

Azumano High School is well known for their students wearing really cute uniforms to school (which looks ugly in Maia's opinion). The school and students had prided themselves for having a complete Four Seasoned Attire; spring, summer, autumn and winter. The students often wore it proudly to wherever they are going, especially to dates and to theme parks, as if just by the sheer look of their uniforms the theme park workers would give them students price.

Boys and girls had the usual black blazers while their pants and skirts are colored according to seasons. Spring is a deep green with checkered thin striped black, red and white, checkered marine blue and thin striped black, yellow and white in the summer, autumn a deep maroon with gold, white and black stripes and a formal midnight blue with striped silver, black and red for winter wears. The three other season's attire is accompanied by blazers while the only season that doesn't is summer. Most would only wear their thin white shirts and pants and skirts for the hot weather. Everyone is delighted and proud to enter Azumano High School.

In Maia's opinion, they had too much free time to design school uniforms, not to mention the price for those uniforms could well cost more than half a million yen.

In some times of the year, there are a few particular events that are celebrated throughout the region, mostly require the students to celebrate it along, and one of them is what Satoshi liked to not look forward to and just rather skip school and give out excuses such as busting Dark.

St. White Day.

Satoshi bite his lips and closed his eyes tightly, wishing this day would quickly go away.

Boys and girls are required to wear white; white pants, white shirts, white ties, and white skirts. Even white hair is encouraged, if anyone dared to do that and not afraid of negative comeback from deciding to look like a character in an anime series to looking identical to the old man down the road who liked to rock on his old rocking chair. Nobody could comprehend why the school would want the students to celebrate something that is similar to Valentine's Day. School is supposed to be the place to study, and not for students to flirt around and declare love.

Turns out that there was a time when there is a school director and a student falling in love and celebrated all of the traditional events in Azumano-Chou at school, and both of them are the happily married, then happily lay side by side, resting in peace.

Amen.

The school thought that it was romantic, and had decided to set it as a requirement for all students to celebrate it along, saying something about "Remembering the romance that starts at school."

Maia had blatantly opposed to it by adding a sarcastic remark to the end of the phrase at that time when someone had asked the teacher why they should celebrate such an event, "And remembering that romance in school brings the rate of abortion higher and higher every year."

Risa had glared at Maia, whom glared back innocently, thinking that the girl is playing a game of glares. While the girls played glares, Satoshi, too, were playing glares with someone.

Except that it was a serious one.

And his playfellow?

Saehara Takashi.

Satoshi had caught the nosy reporter staring at Maia dreamily from the corner of the classroom, where nobody would ever notice him staring. The reporter had previously forced and begged a certain redhead to change seats with him, and the redhead agreed, only because their bargain is that he is getting to seat closer with his now girlfriend, Riku. He thought that he could stare and admire the beauty guarded by the ferocious blue-eyed prodigy without being noticed, for if he had chosen to turn around and stare right at Hiwatari-kun, he won't be seeing the blue-eyed prince but the tallest boy in his class. He thought that his plan is brilliant and that nobody could ever stop him from admiring Maia anymore.

Except that sometimes, he forgot that his adversary is a certain Supreme Commander in the Azumano Police Department and the Police Force.

And a super-smart prodigy at that.

Who practically excels at anything and everything that is both possible and impossible.

And even looking heartbreakingly handsome and cool even at his demise, which he speculated himself since he had never seen the Supreme Commander in ruin before and is quite sure that is what would have happen.

He could just practically hear his heart crumble pitifully into a colorless pile of ash. How could he compete with the ever so smart and great good-looking Ice Prince when he is practically someone with not enough looks and an average peasant at that?

Saehara had felt a sudden heat at the back of his head- no- to be precise, he had felt the heat all over his back starting from his head and ending right where the chair had blocked. No- the chair had felt hot too, as if someone is using some superman eye laser thingy to-

Eye laser thingy? Saehara thought to himself.

Then he realizes something.

Daisuke had so often told him how 'Hiwatari-kun' had always gave him his glares from behind the classroom, which felt so similar to being soaked by near-boiling hot water. He had once commented that if Hiwatari-kun's glares are to be compared to any Marvel superheroes, he would describe that his eye glares are exceedingly similar to the man who feared the green glowing Kryptonite; Superman.

He remembered vividly that he had laughed out loud at the redhead, claiming that his expression is funny enough to make his stomach cramp. Now that he remembered, the redhead Daisuke had looked so fearful at the mention of the prodigy. He didn't want to even think that he might just looked exactly like the redhead's once fearful expression right at this moment.

But out of curiosity, he turned his head around to try and see if Daisuke's theory of the genius's so-called 'super glare' is truly at work.

And as people liked so much to say, curiosity did indeed killed the cat, didn't it?

Saehara made the head turn, and is immediately confirmed of Daisuke's precision in theory-making.

Hiwatari Satoshi is staring at him using his Superman's Glare.

Of course, Satoshi glared back pleasingly, sending messages through his eyes, which read, "Stare again and I'll sit right next to you the whole day."

Oh, how he sweated. He had frozen right on his spot, and he didn't even dare to break his glare in fear of him standing up and walking right up to him and the next thing he knew he would be asked to transfer to another school and forbidden to even look at Maia.

_No!_ He screamed internally. _My lovely goddess from across the sea!_

Just as he thought he was going to die from having his eyeball popped out dramatically from his eyes sockets, Daisuke stepped in and patted his back happily and gave a cheerful 'Yo!' to the reporter.

Satoshi could swear goose bumps rose on his skin when he see Saehara practically gave Daisuke a passionate hug of thanks, no doubt just for saving him from his infamous icy glare that is rumored to even have the power to freeze teachers on their tracks.

**Oh, dear**, thought Krad within Satoshi. **Kids these days sure knew how to imagine with their pitifully uncivilized brain. **

Satoshi tensed up immediately._ I thought I've told you to not brew up trouble when I'm in school?_

**This is such a fascinating event to witness and here you expected me to keep quiet on Saint White Day? **Krad said sarcastically back to his host.** I'm so disappointed, Satoshi-sama. After so long within you and you within me and you still don't understand me? **

Satoshi rolled his eyes in disbelief. Surely the fallen angel, the other counterpart of Dark and once the cursed artwork called the Black Wings, is reverting right back to his old self again? And here he thought that the fallen angel had reverted to his side and gone from giving and spouting all kinds of nonsense and killing threats to supporting and giving advices; so much for thinking that he's finally turning over a new leaf.

_I have not the need to understand you, Krad. Just stay in there and don't make trouble for me. _

Krad merely chuckled evilly before he finally disappears from Satoshi's thought. He could still feel the fallen angel lingering behind his mind, but for the moment, he is sure that he will not brew up enough trouble for him, for today is a very important day for him.

A day to protect her and to confess to someone he loves.

Satoshi chewed his lower lip at the thought of it.

So here's the explanation; the tradition is that boys would give girls they like something white, preferably a ribbon since it was 'more romantic', says most girls. According to them, it would be like tying the girl with the boy for a lifetime.

It is a miracle for some, and yet at the same time, it could be disastrous for others. Girls could be tied forcefully for a lifetime to a boy she only had a puppy love with, and she won't be happy throughout her years with the boy, and the marriage would still go on even though the girl wished for it to fail and to be free of a forced relationship. Truth is, when there is magic involved, it cannot be reversed.

Girls and boys needed to truly love and like each other before they are allowed the ribbons, and it was called the Bonding Ceremony. Azumano-Chou region is known in ancient books as one of the most original and most magical land in the world. Certain events become the triggers for the magical land to come back alive to once again bring electric and magnetic sparks of magic field a few times a year. It is at these moments when the magical waves coming directly from the land in Azumano-Chou awakes and it is also at these moments that the magical waves would unintentionally grant wishes.

If that someone wishes hard enough, that is.

Let's just end it with a 'sometimes, the wishes fulfilled is negative while most of them are positive such as a permanently comatose patient suddenly awaken just by the family wishing hard enough on such events." To sum it all up, the magical waves in Azumano-Chou is powerful.

_Very_ powerful.

Class started as normal as everyday else, except that Miss Lee, who usually wore black spectacles, black hair tie, dark colored outfits and black heels suddenly turned into an angel wearing white, her hair let loose and spectacles gone.

Only for Saint White Day, she claimed.

Saehara had explained his comments on Miss Lee's miraculous change of attire every year, and each year, it was a different theme.

This year, the theme is 'Chicken'.

"Miss Lee," Saehara started. "You looked as if you're a chicken stripped off its dark colored feathers and dipped into fried flour, ready to be fried."

Everyone laughed; some thought that it's real funny, while others, such as Risa, merely laughed along even if it doesn't sounds funny to her at all. Miss Lee merely smiled and laughed along with her students. Saehara is one such student which she could never be able to advice or order to do things without them going haywire. No matter how harsh she tried to sound, Saehara is a stubbornly average student who never failed any of his subjects.

"Very entertaining yet again this year, Saehara-kun," said Miss Lee, smiling sweetly at the teenager. "Now class, I know today is the ever so special Saint White Day, but class is still going, so don't slack off your studies for one single event as by the end of this month, which is exactly 2 more weeks, will be your test exam soon."

Every single student groaned out loud, drowning Miss Lee's of protest to not react to all of her news like that, except for the two at the far back of the class, of course. (A/N: In case you've forgotten, Satoshi sat right at the far, far corner of the class, closest to the exit. Hell, he practically sits right next to the exit door! Maia-chan sat right beside him.)

Class goes on for the next hour. Some students, especially boys, were starting to finger the white ribbons hidden deep within their pockets while the girls were starting to steal glances at available boys. Most of the girls were staring at Hiwatari Satoshi, while the boys stared at Akihiko Maia.

None glanced at Harada Risa's direction, leaving her to fume alone.

Satoshi had prepared for the escape, but he's more afraid of the boys attacking Maia and forcing her to accept their white ribbon despite his display of love on her wrist. _She's mine,_ he thought fiercely, trying to glare off the boys who stared at her, jealousy burning and clawing at his soul. _So back off, boys._

A second before the bell rang; Miss Lee called Risa forward and thus, halted all the class's students from going out to their recess time.

"Take these papers to the office for me, please?" asked Miss Lee sweetly, patting the high pile of paper on top of her table. She could see clearly that Risa gulped uncharacteristically and unladylike, but nonetheless, this is her punishment for trying to be a bully when she is her homeroom teacher.

"Now," Miss Lee begun, "You may only leave after the bell _finished_ blaring. Don't try to leave earlier; I'll know it when you do it." Miss Lee finished with a dismal tone, several students backing away from her for fear of having the need to look at her in the eyes.

After Miss Lee strode out of the class, Satoshi prepared for the worse for both Maia and himself.

Only to have Risa strode over towards Maia's table, stopping all the other boy's advances.

Satoshi braced himself, preparing to run with Maia, and while he pondered about the few seconds left for the bell, he glanced at Maia briefly.

And take another glance again.

A huge blue bento, complete with a blue silk scarf wrapped carefully over the bento, and a large flask of God-Know's-What is secured in Maia's embrace; all the while smiling idiotically, occasionally taking a deep whiff from the bento, closed her eyes and huffed out loud in bliss.

Satoshi barely realized his mouth started to hang open when Risa's backside blocked him from his view.

He grimaced upon catching the strong hint of perfume that Risa had wore ridiculously to school. It didn't smell nice; it hurts his nose.

Krad sneezed loudly in his inner world in response to Risa's strong perfume.

"Akihiko," Risa begun rudely, frowning upon seeing Maia glanced up innocently while holding her bento protectively against her bosom. She had heard tales of Maia's bottomless pit of a stomach that doesn't seem to be able to satisfy her hunger, and she had said disgustingly that Maia is merely pretending to have a bottomless pit. She had added some spice into the circulating rumors that Maia is having bulimia.

She had hoped that Satoshi would distance himself from Maia from then on, but he only got stuck closer to her, if not stuck altogether with her already. Risa had hoped for the rumors to reach Satoshi and made him feel disgusted with Maia, but when the rumors did arrive, Satoshi had not only ignored them, but started to openly smile to Maia.

Purely and without malice, which he never does while he is in Azumano Academy.

For most of his life, just to say.

Everyone wondered just how Maia melts the heart of the Ice Prince, and when asked, Maia merely blinked innocently and asked implying to him smiling openly in public, "Doesn't he used to be like this?"

Seems that from the very start, Satoshi had been treating her differently from others, as everyone had thought, which prompted everyone to think that she might just be a very influential officer's daughter, and that he is given orders to be kind and friendly to her.

Risa preferred to think that Maia is just a old ugly witch in a pretty disguise and had gotten Hiwatari Satoshi wrapped tightly around her littlest finger.

Wait.

Did she just admit that Maia is pretty?

"Can I help you, Harada-san?" Maia asked suddenly, popping Risa's thought bubble dramatically.

Risa, upon coming back down to Earth with her consciousness, jumped a little, and exclaimed loudly instead of talking softly like she had just planned to do.

When in front of Hiwatari Satoshi, that is.

"Could You Just Leave Your XXXL-Sized Bento On The Table!" Risa said awkwardly, her eyes bulging like someone who just couldn't accept the fact that others are prettier than they themselves are.

Maia thought she sounded like the robotic-voiced lady on the recording machine when you can't seem to get your call through.

You might be wondering why a biatch with a mouth like hers would talk in such awkward tones with her so-called rival. (A/N: They couldn't be called rival, actually, since Hiwatari Satoshi didn't like Risa at all, and that he only paid attention to either Daisuke, who had the one he wanted to bust, Dark, within, and Maia, who just couldn't help but to fascinate him to no ends by even the simplest gestures such as her picking the pen up from the floor and had herself nearly toppled over the table.) The explanations are written as below:

Risa couldn't accept the fact that she had admitted Maia is prettier than her.

Risa couldn't accept that she herself, who had once been shined and tagged as the Jewel of Azumano Junior School 1-B, is no longer the Jewel of Azumano Junior School 1-B. (Well, duh? She's getting on to Senior years! She still thinks she's a junior. Poor thing.)

Risa couldn't accept that Maia is by far richer and prettier than her.

Risa couldn't accept that Maia have a mysterious family background that everybody just seemed to be dying to know, which somehow made her more appealing to boys, juniors and seniors alike.

Risa couldn't accept that Hiwatari Satoshi, who is supposed to be hers, had turned his back on her and pursued Maia instead.

Risa couldn't believe that Maia is smarter than her, and that she believes her bento is full of blackened egg-rolls and that her own cooking abilities are by far better than Maia's.

Maia blinked naively when she saw Risa paused for a long, long time, unsure of whether she should repeat her answers or not. She had placed her bento and flask on the table long ago, and had been repeating her question for 3 times already, which is, "Harada-san? Is there anything else?"

Then, suddenly, Risa snapped back to reality for the second time and suddenly squealed out loud, "Your arms!"

Maia stretched them forward involuntarily and mindlessly, Risa dropped the burden of papers heavily onto Maia's unintentionally outstretched arms, grinning and returning back to her former biatch-self when she heard Maia gave a light 'omph!" in response to the sudden burden on her thin arms.

"There," Risa said, dusting off her hands from any remnants of microscopic dust. "That should do the trick," she added scathingly, taking great notes to 'flung' her _prettier_ and _longer_ and _fragrant_ hair across Maia's face, and smile with broad satisfaction when she heard another light cry from Maia.

"I have duties to perform as the assistant for the Student Council's Vice President today," said Risa proudly, her nose stuck in the air, knowing that everyone is looking at her now. "I'm busy, so you take those to Miss Lee instead of me since she liked you so much."

"Sure," said Maia cheerfully. She always liked Miss Lee. Her teaching methods are extremely beguiling to begin with, and to top it off, she is such a sweet teacher, treating and teaching her students with more kindness than any teacher she had ever met in Kensei Academy. Miss Lee never said anything anyone said is wrong, instead, she added and corrected them in an extremely non-offensive way that one might just thought that she is adding her ideas to other's essays when she is correcting them in front of the class. "But I must confirm with you one thing," Maia continued, looking at the papers. "Aren't the Student Council's room right beside the teacher's office?"

"Well, I'm a busy person, Akihiko," Risa said acidly. "Accept the fact that _I_ am the Student Council's Vice President's _Assistant_ and _you're_ just a commoner that takes orders from _me_, not _you_."

"Well, lucky you to be busy enough that you couldn't even take a pile of papers to the office," Maia mumbled in a tone loud enough for her to hear, which she does when her face grew red with anger.

Risa started. "You-"

"Here," Satoshi offered suddenly, appearing right beside Maia, his arms outstretched to take the pile of papers from her arms. "Let me take it-"

"No!" Maia rejected his help by swinging the heavy papers away from the blue-eyed prince, surprising him when she reacted strongly. "I can do this myself," she continued stubbornly, nearly stomping her feet a little. Standing up, Maia walked towards the backdoor. "You have things to do, no doubt, Sato-kun, so go ahead and do it. I can handle these."

Satoshi protested. "Maia-"

"Sato-kun," Maia turned around, her long ponytail whipping the door with a light 'smack'. "I'm not crippled and _princess_ enough that you had _have_ to help me with everything. If you worry so much, then meet me at my favorite tree 4 minutes later. Bring along the bento and the flask please. See you there!"

"Maia!" Satoshi called after her, but she ignored it and fastens her pace.

Risa, upon seeing such scene, regretted greatly that she had given the duty to ferry the papers to Maia. Huffing out loudly in frustration, Risa stomped her feet loudly and exited the class, slamming the door loudly.

And the bell rang just in time for everyone to scream 'Break time!'

Satoshi picked the silk-wrapped bento and the large flask on Maia's table and sighed, shaking his head in amazement.

"She threw a cute tantrum on you, huh, Hiwatari-kun?" said a cheerful and sympathetic voice from behind him.

It was Niwa Daisuke.

"She can be so stubborn sometimes," said Satoshi in a defeated tone, shaking his head in yet again in amazement. He cannot comprehend as to how he could want to follow her, making sure she's right in front of his eyes and making sure she is safe and sound near him.

**Because she's targeted, that's why**, Krad said from within Satoshi.

Satoshi frowned in disapproval. Krad merely sighed in response and retreated back, hovering extremely near to the line of the surface of his mind.

"But that's what made her so special to you, isn't it?" Daisuke said to Satoshi, smiling to the blue-haired prodigy. He no longer fears the Supreme Commander. For now, he just wanted to be friends with him, regardless of their difference as night and day or thief and the cop.

For, deep within his heart, he knew, and absolutely refused to believe to the statement that the young prodigy is dying of a curse as a Hikari. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he would one day regret it if the prodigy died just as he had predicted himself with the ending of his life as a direct blood descendant of the Hikari while he cowered behind walls and friends just for the silly reason that 'he feared' the Supreme Commander and his all-too-knowing gaze.

He didn't want his friend to die just like that; lonely and alone when he finally leaves the world of the living. He didn't want that at all.

"Does yours behave like that too?" Satoshi interrupted Daisuke's thought with a question. Daisuke blinked for a few times, trying to remember what the young prodigy had asked him. When he had remembered, he grinned widely.

"Nah," he denied. "Just sometimes, though it's quite hard trying to convince her that I'm not Dark when I am practically Dark himself."

"You're not Dark," Satoshi confirmed firmly. "You're just his host."

Daisuke smiled. "The same goes for the fallen angel within you."

Satoshi tried to come up with a reply, but finds himself unable to as his mind kept drifting to a certain clumsy pony-tailed girl. He huffed out in exasperation. "I'm seriously not feeling good about letting her going alone," he said suddenly, changing the topic.

Daisuke lifted both of his eyebrows.

"She's clumsy enough to scratch herself just for the sake of squashing a mosquito," Satoshi added pensively.

Daisuke chuckled lightly at his comment. He could see that the young Supreme Commander liked her a lot; the twinkle in his eyes explained more than enough about their relationship. He smiled softly, happy that the lonely prodigy had finally found someone to warm his ice cold heart.

_**While he is still alive at the moment**_**,** Dark thought grimly from within Daisuke.

"You know what?" Daisuke carried on, refusing to dwell on the thought of the short-lived Hikari's. "Let's find somewhere and sit down someday, and we'll talk about our girls. I'm sure it'll be fun."

Both Daisuke and Satoshi had a short eye-staring-contest. Satoshi smiled after a moment, and for once, Daisuke saw, for the first time, his smile actually reaches his blue-diamond eyes. "Not a bad idea, Niwa. I liked it."

"Niwa-kun," Riku came from behind Daisuke, calling his name. "Let's go for lunch- Oh, you're here too, Hiwatari-kun?" said Riku, finally noticing the young prodigy. She smiled sweetly when she spotted the bento in his hands instead of his customary notebook. It looked so weird in his hands, and yet, the blue comprehended his blue eyes very well as the bento sat innocently in his hands. "Say, why not we have our breaks together under the maple tree?"

Satoshi raised his eyebrows in question. "Maple tree?" he asked in curiosity.

Both Riku and Daisuke nodded.

Satoshi might have a good guess which maple tree they're suggesting. "By means of maple tree, is the one you're suggesting inhibited at the far corner of the school?"

Riku blinked in acknowledgement. "Yeah," she answered. "It's secluded and quiet, full of peace and fresh air. Niwa-kun liked it there."

Smiling crookedly, Satoshi motioned with his head for them to go for break. "My guess is that we would have met there anyway. Maia seemed to like that particular tree too."

Riku's eyes widen in surprise. "Really?" she cried out. "Oh, let's go there and wait for her then!"

* * *

**_Azumano High School Far Corner of the Backyard.  
Break Time: 9.20a.m-10a.m.  
Current Time: 9.26a.m._**

"What's taking her so long?" said Daisuke worriedly, glancing around for any signs of movement.

The maple tree they're sitting underneath have a large coverage of leaves and shades. It is one of the largest and oldest trees in Azumano High School's ground, and it's a favorite to a fair few students who knew how and where to find this particular tree. Maia had claimed that just by sitting underneath the tree, one could feel a great sense of peace washing over them, as if someone had poured a 'bucket' of peace on them.

"Did she get lost trying to find her way?" Riku suggested, and it unexpectedly made the blue-haired prodigy stood up suddenly and headed off back to the school.

"I'll go and check up on her," he said without turning around, the loud crunching of dried up leaves the only sound in the school's secluded backyard.

"Wait-" Riku called after him, trying to stop him from going. "Hiwatari-kun!"

"He'll go anyway, Riku," said the redhead with spiky hair, a hand gripping Riku's elbow to stop her from going after the prodigy. Riku sighed in defeat and sank back into her previous sitting position, a light smile on her lips.

"He's really attached to her right, Daisuke-kun?" Riku asked him, still staring after the gradually disappearing back of Hiwatari Satoshi.

Eyes fixated on the dying Hikari, Daisuke smiled slightly, agreeing with her. "Judging by how worried he is when you suggested her getting lost, my guess is that he really did grown attached to her."

* * *

With her red face, her bulging eyeballs and her horrified expression, she looked as if she were cousins with baboons.

And to top it all off with her uncharacteristic loud gulp, Akihiko Maia appeared to be in deep trouble.

She had walked to and fro of this particular floor for 3 times; one to go down the left school wing of the stairs, and finding it stuffed full with people, and wanting to be quickly done with her duty, she went to the right side of the school's wing's stairs, only to find it stuffed full with people too. Sighing, she went back to the left school wing's stairs and, finding the stairs extremely empty, she smiled widely in response.

Only to finally notice how far and steep the stairs was from where she stands.

She gulped audibly for the second time.

She cannot comprehend and cannot think of what would happen to her should she slip and rolled down the stairs. She knew how 'good' her relationship with the stairs is, going as far as to kiss it every time she walked alone down it. (A/N: She means that she would fall down every single time she went down the stairs alone, kissing the ground every time.) She didn't want to wake up in a hospital, and she sure as hell didn't want Satoshi and the school to find out about her dirty little secret with the hospital. Imagine the shock he would have gone through…he wouldn't accept her…no- not just him…nobody would want to accept someone as sick as her into society ever again.

She wanted to keep her dirty little secret tied in a bag and keep it where no one could ever find out about it.

Her heart beats quickly against her small chest. She fears the outcome, and at the same time, worried for her bento getting colder and of Satoshi waiting at her favorite tree. Oh dear, she silently cursed to herself. With the pile of paper as high as a launching rocket, she won't be able to get down the stairs safely.

Just as she is pondering whether or not she should just go down the steep stairs or not, her aching arms were suddenly liberated with their formidable burden.

"My guess is that you needed help with these, Maia-chan," a sweet voice greeted her and releases her ever-growing thoughts of doom, instantly cheering her up. Looking up, she is greeted by another shade of blue eyes and a pair of silver-framed spectacles.

A much too-bright smile greeted her.

It's Takuma Yuujiro, Vice President of the Student Council of Azumano High School.

In other words, he's a _senior._

_A handsome one at that._

_Not Sato-kun,_ Maia thought to herself, a little dejectedly that it was not the blue-haired teenager she is thinking. Apparently, she didn't notice just how much good looks the Vice President possesses.

"Thank you, Takuma-senpai," Maia offered her appreciation by flashing him a huge bright smile. "That's so kind of you to be helping me," she added, unintentionally making the vice president's chest swelled up in pride.

"Of course Takuma-senpai is kind," said a familiarly shrill voice from behind Takuma, who cringed at the sound of her voice.

It was none other than Harada Risa.

"I thought that I've asked you to deliver those papers to Miss Lee ages ago!" Risa started, fuming when she saw the piles of papers, previously in Maia's hand, now in Takuma's arms. "Do you have to force me to personally see to it so that you do your duty?" she continued, her eyes bulging and horrifyingly enlarged.

"Harada," Takuma started in a serious tone, surprising even Risa herself that she had paused in mid-argument, her mouth wide open like a whale. "I thought that I've asked you to not push your duties to others and using the excuse that you're my assistant to escape performing them? Do you have to force me to give you a warning letter personally to see that you perform your duty as you are told? How many times do I have to tell you that as part of the Student Council, we have to set a good example for others? Just what are you doing when I tell you about this?"

"I'm so sorry, Takuma-senpai," Risa apologized fervently, her eyes unexpectedly quick to tear up.

Then…

"Don't try that crying-trick on me. It won't work," Takuma said, blowing off her famous tear-jerker skills.

Risa huffed out loud angrily in response to that. From Maia's perspective, it would appears that Risa had unleashed several of her pitiful skills to Takuma, and none of them succeeded far enough to get her what she wanted.

"Now, since it's your duty, you might want to hand it in yourself to the teachers that asked you earlier," Takuma finished his speech by dumping the pile of papers into Risa's arms, who had no choice but to obey her senior. From what she had heard from rumors, Takuma is as fearsome as the Student Council President himself. Strict, wealthy, and a wide range of social communication, everyone would either stick themselves to them to share their oh-so-popular status or steer clear away from their path.

But when Maia remembered the earlier smiling Takuma, she couldn't possibly think that this almost-harmless senior would be anything but fearsome.

Maia shook her head lightly; she preferred to not listen to rumors, as the stories that came from them changes from one person to another. All in all, she believed that those who spread rumors are liars.

"I'm sorry for Risa's behavior," said Takuma, apologizing with a slight bow of his head, acting just like a gentleman. "I have tried to reeducate my own long distance cousin, but she is just too stubborn for her own good sometimes."

"It's alright, Takuma-senpai," Maia assured the Vice-President, who looked so guilty over what Risa had done that she hadn't had the heart to tell him that she needed to be where Satoshi is right now. She had prepared a mouthwatering bento for the both of them, and she had added in everything just to see what he liked to eat. She had even baked a special muffin that is guaranteed for its taste. It was a secret home recipe from back when she still lived with her cousins, and they so often baked muffins together that she had the recipe embedded in her brain. She could only smile anxiously to herself when Satoshi would take a bite and praise her for it. "She just needs time, is all."

The charming Vice President for the Student Council merely nodded and smiled. Truthfully, Takuma had had his eyes on Akihiko Maia a long time ago, starting right on her first day in Azumano High School. She is such a sweet girl, and has such a sweet and innocent air around her that he couldn't help but to graze upon a smile and pursued Maia with his eyes. Now that he had the chance to speak with her, he'll make sure this chance is a success.

Right at that moment, the Knight in Shining Armor arrived at the said scene and, instead of walking right up to Maia, he heaved a long and loud breath of relief and immediately jumped to the side upon seeing the Vice President of the Student Council Club, hiding from the talking two. Once upon a time ago, Satoshi had so often stumbled upon the stupid Vice President who's only good point is his good looks, who is famously known to try and get Hiwatari Satoshi into their club, the Azumano High School's well known genius, who is not only genios on the brain, but also on the good looks. They wanted him on their club, and Satoshi preferred his freedom to be used to catch Dark and now, to stay by Maia's side. To make it simple, Hiwatari Satoshi would balk at the sight of the upperclassman's for the Student Council; namely the President and the Vice President.

Maia's eyes immediately snapped to the direction where Satoshi is hiding right now, feeling quite sure to herself that she had just heard a Satoshi heaving a long breath. Making a mental note to deal with it later, Maia returned her attention to her senior, who choose to just admire her with a knowing smile on his lips. Somehow, Satoshi felt that this Takuma Yuujiro is up to something 'not really good'.

"I was just wondering, Maia-chan-" said the teenager sweetly and shyly. Maia could properly see that this senior of hers is very good-looking, with his charming shade of blue pool of eyes and light brown hair. His fringes accommodated his eyes very well, bringing out the warm blue color of his eyes. His lips were curled at the end, slightly pouting and appearing extremely kissable.

_He's a good kisser,_ Maia thought. _But I think Sato-kun is better._

"Yes?" she responded to him, her eyebrows rose slightly in question. She really needed to get to the bento and to Satoshi, worried that he might waited her for too long and decided to just go back to class with the bento. But even so, she asked politely. "What is it?"

"Have you already gotten a ribbon for your neck?" the attractive senior asked her boldly, feeling extremely confident since there is obviously no ribbon on her smooth white neck. Oh, how he drooled at the sight of them. He wondered what her neck would taste like, and he'd love to plant big red strawberries on them for the world to see. (A/N: In case somebody doesn't understand what a strawberry means, in here it means a love bite. Planting them means making them.)

Maia blinked blankly.

Maia had not known the full story behind Saint White Day, and that includes the story about white ribbons. She finds it extremely weird when he asked her that question. _What am I, a dog needing a ribbon as a leash? _Maia thought insultingly.

Now that Satoshi realized, he is hiding directly within a broom cupboard. Behind it, he smiled to himself wickedly.

_He thought he knew it's easy to deal her,_ thought Satoshi. _I'll see what you can show me, __**boy**__, _Satoshi added sarcastically.

"I…haven't," Maia said after a long blank pause. "May I ask why? Is it the school rules requiring students to wear a white ribbon around their neck today?"

"Err…no," said Takuma, confused as to why she would react in such ways. He knew he is handsome and attractive enough that whenever he talked with a girl, they would certainly blush. He never encountered one that haven't blush yet, and is terribly troubled by it. He brushed it off by chuckling nervously. "Haha! Why would it be school rules when it's just a local folklore?"

Maia blinked blankly again, thinking she had heard wrongly when Takuma just seemed to mumble a pile of incomprehensible words. "I'm sorry?"

"Nothing," the Vice President quickly replied. "I'm just- mumbling to myself. Haha!" Takuma gave a nervous chuckle to Maia, who was starting to look very, _very_ confused.

There was a long pregnant pause with Maia looking very baffled and the senior staring at Maia. _She really is beautiful on close range_, thought Takuma, starting to take in Maia's soft features and rosy cheeks. Not to mention her innocently large eyes and her pouty cherry pink lips_. I bet she taste better than she looks. Best grab her before somebody else does. _

"I'm just wondering again-" the Vice President senior begun, catching Maia's attention again.

"And yes, what is it?"

"May I tie a white ribbon on you for you?" the boy said, beginning in an extremely bold invitation. He liked to be straight, and he finds that when he's straight, he could get girls in and out of bed faster than he would finish his homework in one day. Ah, the charms of being cool and handsome and popular at the same time.

Maia frowned perplexedly. "Erm…if you're talking about the local folklore's belief, I think I already have a white ribbon. Look. It's on my wrist."

Takuma immediately snapped his head to the direction of the white ribbon, where Maia held her wrist up for him to see. When he finally noticed the white ribbon tied around the white rose corsage sitting on her wrist so innocently, his eyebrow furrowed sadly and walked away dejectedly, feeling tired and worn out all of a sudden.

Satoshi smiled in triumph_. That's what you get for being insensitive to your surroundings,_ Satoshi thought to himself.

Maia raised an eyebrow to herself when she sees her senior acting in such strange and baffling antics. And not even a 'See you again!' for her at that! "I must say," said Maia to herself. "Why is everyone insisting that I wore a white ribbon around my neck? Is it a must then? If it is, I had had to ask one extra ribbon from someone then."

That set Satoshi off. Alarmed, he tried to quickly open the doors, and when he did, he tumbled out of the broom cupboard in an unsightly heap. Hair in disarray and regardless of what he knew he must have looked like then, he ran after Maia.

"Maia! Maia, wait!" he called out, unbeknownst to him that the whole school heard what he was saying clearly as the school's microphone is turned on in the nearby Studio Room. He would have known if he heard his voice on the corridor's speakers, but unfortunately, right at that moment, the speakers of that block of buildings has been disabled so that workers could dust off the dusts that have accumulated on the speakers.

Turning around, Maia saw a much disheveled Satoshi panting in front of her, as if he had ran all the way from God-Know's-Where and to her side.

She smiled sweetly when she saw there are feathers and soot smeared on his cheek, which stood out against the fairness of his skin.

"Where have you been, Sato-kun?" she asked, chuckling slightly. "You must know that your current state is the cutest I've seen in these short whiles. Here, let me help you dust them off."

Taking the chance when Satoshi is still bending down, she fished out her handkerchief (today's a white silk with her usual initial, A.M, sewn with blue-silver thread) and started to clean Satoshi's face off the soot. She then noticed that his spectacles were also dirtied by some grease, and took them off to clean.

"W-wait, I can do it myself-"

"Nonesense!" Maia barked, shoving off Satoshi's outstretched hands away. "Just try to catch your breath while I help you sort out your other problems."

She put the glasses on his face for him, and after a few hits with her handkerchief, Maia pronounced loudly that he is clean again.

"Alright, you're clean!"

Knowing that Maia would just jump off to another topic in less than 5 seconds, Satoshi quickly dived in to ask her for her needs, "Maia, I have some extra white ribbons. Do you want it?"

Maia blinked in surprise. _How did he know I am in need of an extra white ribbon? _Maia thought to herself. She had been wondering about what exactly is the local folklore regarding Saint White Day's tradition, and had seen several girls giggling happily while holding the white ribbon on their neck.

And so, she asked.

"Sato-kun, can you tell me what's with the tradition of the Saint White Day involving a white ribbon tied around the neck?"

Which rendered the blue-haired prodigy speechless.

_She did that again,_ thought Satoshi about Maia's ability to switch topics.

Maia was looking at him, curiosity in her eyes, waiting for his explanation.

He knew he couldn't resist her eyes, and he sighed loudly.

Taking a deep huff of breath, Satoshi begun, "The white ribbon around the neck is specifically given to girls by boys, who, should they accept them, would mean that they accepted the boy's love. The sign that they accepted the love invitation is by looking at their ribbon-decorated neck, where they would wear it proudly for one, full day. It's a courting tradition in ancient times, and apparently, even the school is practicing it. Simply say, it's a confession."

This time, it was Maia's turn to be speechless.

"Does it have to be a white ribbon?"

"White ribbons are the best, since they are easy to be put on display, but regardless, anything white would do."

Looking down at her own white handkerchief, Maia looked up to him curiously, "Then would you accept my handkerchief?"

Satoshi blinked. "I'm the one who's supposed to give you a white ribbon, not you!"

Eyes widening in happiness and surprise, Maia cried out, "But you haven't given me one yet!"

"I already did this morning!" Satoshi replied her, taking note of her surprise. "If not for you wanting to ask someone else for a ribbon I wouldn't give you an extra one!"

"This morning?" Maia repeated.

Grasping her hand in his, Satoshi showed her the delicate white petals resting on top of her wrist. "The white rose corsage on your wrist is bound on your hand with a white ribbon."

A goofy smile widened on Maia's lips. "This is your confession to me on Saint White Day?"

Satoshi smirked, "Apparently so, yes."

"So," Maia started. "Can I exchange your necktie with my white handkerchief?"

Confuse flooded Satoshi's handsome features. "Why my necktie?"

"Well," Maia begun in a matter-of-factly tone. "It's white, and it's long. People won't suspect a lot if I wore a white tie. It'll be disastrous if the whole school knew about us. And for the sake of the Lord above, who knows what the girl's will do to me if they were to know you're officially courting with me."

Satoshi smiled in triumph. "If I were to accept your handkerchief, I want something in return."

"What is it?" Maia asked eagerly.

Leaning in, Satoshi whispered by her ear seductively, "Tie it up on my neck for me."

Smiling, Maia tied the white handkerchief on his collar and whispered back to him. "Then you'll have to tie mine for me too."

"Then by the covenant," Satoshi said while tying his white necktie on her collar. "We are tied to each other for eternity."

Placing both of her hands on Satoshi's broad shoulders, Maia stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek bashfully, blushing an adorable tomato red. "Eternity doesn't sounds so bad," she whispered allegedly. "I'm sure it would be nice to spend it with someone I love."

On the other side of the microphone in the Studio Room, the whole school is silent with shock. They never knew Hiwatari Satoshi, the famed Ice Prince, who won't even give people a smile to cheer up their day, had moved so fast to grab Akihiko Maia, and such a romantic display of love too! Necktie and a handkerchief. True. No one would have suspected anything if they hadn't heard the whole confession on the announcer.


	11. 11: Into the Water

**A/N: Hello everyone! I must apologize for the late update. 2 more months and it'll mark 1 year since I've updated, but I speed the date up and updated, and so here! Extra long and fluffy! Hope you'll forgive me for the late updates and enjoy them!**

* * *

**11-Into the Water**

Summer; the joys of the heat baking the pale smooth skin of young girls and boys on the beach would just brought a perverted image into the minds of young men in High School. Everything would happen in the exact moment; they would started to smile stupidly while staring up into the ceiling in front of the black board, then they would started to laugh and drool, and right at that moment, a flying chalk would come zooming into their mouths or forehead. Such is the skills of the famed Miss Lee of Azumano High School.

Then a loud roar of laughter would soon follow.

Such, is the life of summer.

And, per usual, Maia would stared at the blackboard gloomily whenever an announcement were made about the swimming classes held every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the week, or whenever a group of girls started to hover around one girl's desk, staring and squealing excitedly at all the cute bikinis of the latest fashion of the year on famous magazines. And this year, it's coconut shell as the covers for 'Mountains' and a g-string which is made out of less material and more strings than anything that Maia have ever seen, a wide bold letters of "IT'S HULA TIME!" printed across the magazine covers.

Not to mention summer holiday is just around the corner. That thought made Maia weak in the knees and would prefer to just lay atop of her desk and sigh dramatically.

To her, summer is the worst season ever existed on God's green earth. Besides the fact that it is so scorching hot, there is also the horrible insects that just seemed to love to hover around her, disturbing her with their buzzing sounds and all, leaving only when they had succeeded in feeding off her blood and of her scratching the bite marks like there was no more tomorrow. To her, summer is the very season that effectively proves to the world that walking on a line that connected one skyscraper to another skyscraper without any safety attachments to any ropes is not as dangerous as summer.

To Maia, summer is equals to danger.

"Sato-kun," Maia started, her voice carrying the annoyed tone of someone having enough of something, picking and rolling her eyes at the amount of frills sewn on the swimsuit. "Is there any ways or excuses we could give to not attend Swimming Classes?"

Maia is counted as a new student in Azumano High School. As such, she does not possess all the required uniforms for activities, and so she is excused from having to wear the school swimming suits for swimming lessons. Satoshi had graciously offered to accompany her to shop for swimming gears, and had chuckled when he saw her hand reaching for the life savers hanging on the walls of a clothing department store.

And, per usual, Satoshi would just smile at her, and sometimes, when nobody is watching, he would pat her hand comfortingly. "I'll teach you to swim. I'm your partner in everything, remember?"

After the shopping, they went straight to Café Bluebottle.

Unexpectedly, they are reunited with Kiku.

"Kiku-Obaa-chan!" Maia had screeched loudly, excited at seeing the old lady once more. "It's been a long while!" Maia said, throwing her arms around the old lady, smiling widely at such a discovery. "I missed you!"

The old lady laughed to herself. "I missed you too, my child. My, you looked so radiant since the last time I saw you, almost glowing with happiness!" Kiku said, flashing her all-knowing smile to her. Eying the couple, Kiku patted Maia's hand and said mischievously, "Are you in love with m'boy here?"

The effect is almost immediate. "Obaa-chan!" Maia almost screamed in embarrassment, her face flushed a healthy color of red. "This is not something that you could say in public loudly!"

Satoshi chuckled at Maia's embarrassment. "That's true, Futaba-san," Satoshi said, grabbing hold of Maia's hand, shamelessly displaying his affection for her while he watched on with delight as she flushed even more furiously and adorably right in front of his eyes. "We're a pair now."

At the sight of Maia trying to pull her hand out from Satoshi's stronger ones while he feign innocent by pulling her into the empty seats across from Kiku's table, Kiku smiled softly and kneed the waiter standing nearest to her in the rib.

"Told ja they'd be a couple sooner or later," Kiku whispered to him. Rolling his eyes, the waiter walked away from the trio and proceeded to serve them their orders. As always, Maia had ticked all the little boxes, which stands for all the cakes in the shop. The waiter shakes his head in amazement.

Moments later, all the cakes arrived. The waiter watched in amazement as Maia wolfed down the cakes plate by plate and slice by slice, all the while keeping up her graceful table manners like a civilized person, smiling widely at the amount of sweets going into her system.

You see, Maia is quite addicted to sweet taste, especially cakes. It is usually harder to take care of her when she's high on sweets. She would demand impossible things and disappear suddenly, only to appear again in impossibly high places. Satoshi shakes his head and can only imagine the nightmare waiting ahead of him.

She appears to be a tad bit disappointed when the box for the blueberry cake is blackened off with a 'sold out', but she comforted herself with their new cake, Mud Chocolate, rumored to be so good that it'd immediately melt in your mouth upon consumption.

That is, until the topic about Maia's inability to swim properly and the swimming class that seemed to towered above Maia's small frame, threatening to drown her in misery.

"Don't worry, Maia-chan," Kiku said, patting her hand with her old gnarled ones. "Satoshi is a man now. He can protect you. Trust in him."

That would usually calm Maia more than anything, but now, it just seemed to make her more nervous.

And the reasons for that?

She had told Satoshi of her stories. There was a 'once upon a time', when she is terribly short and naïve and innocent and stupid and all the qualities possessed by an 8 year old. She accepted an invitation by a boy in her class to his beach party that afternoon. At that time, she had described the boy as terribly sweet and cute, and that very same day, without going straight home like she usually does, she followed a group of her friends who were also attending the beach party and have fun.

This story confirmed Satoshi of Maia's real mind age, and at that time, he is somehow sure that her 8 year old figure once held the mind of an adult, meaning that she is thinking like an adult when she is young and had somehow, in a way or two, diminished in time, and that now that she is a young adult, she seemed to act more childish than matured, but in a childishly matured way.

In which the situation here on turns sour.

There was a dock nearby where the beach party is held. Not being so fond of swimming, Maia preferred to just sit by the dock and feed the colorful fishes swimming all around her feet, rubbing their scaly and slippery body against her feet in hopes of tidbits or snacks, making her feel extremely ticklish. She laughed out loudly and enjoyed the time. The boy who invited her kept staring at her with a smile on his face, and one girl got jealous by his attention towards her and went straight to the dock, intending to confront her.

One thing leads to another, Maia fell into the deep water, seeing the whole underwater world without an ounce of swimming capabilities. She described the feeling of sinking deep into the water as horrifying, and she felt so cold and so helpless and just kept trying to reach for the bright sphere of light up above her, which is really the sun's light view from under the water. Maia swore that what she felt at that time is almost the same as dying, the sense of impending doom pressing her deeper into the water.

Worse off, she felt as if her whole being is being blanketed with a strange sheet-like existence, as if it were embracing her lovingly. Tighter and tighter its embrace became, bruising her arms and legs. She had thought that it was an octopus or something, but she didn't notice Satoshi's darkened expression when she told him of this part, and continued her story.

Then a figure appeared in the water and pulled her along with him up to the surface, away from the deep and dark underwater world, cold and uninhabitable by humans for the lack of oxygen. She suddenly felt alive, and when she breaks through the surface, she realized that she is lying safely in her brother's arms, Kira, who furiously demands a speech with the girl's parents who are responsible for Maia's accident. Her phobia for deep water started then.

"It might be a water spirit," Satoshi told her truthfully. "It's a creature known to be ignorant of human's needs, and tends to drown them without knowing it."

"Sato-kun," Maia started again, her eyebrows creased together worriedly. "I trust you, but I just don't trust the water. It's cold, it's dark, it's dangerous and there's no oxygen underneath it and-"

"Maia," Satoshi begun, intercepting her chatters, one hand squeezing her hand slightly to bring her back to the surface of the present time, knowing that she had a knack of starting one word and the next she'll sink back into the past. "Everything's going to be fine. I'll ask for special permission to practice in the shallow pools. You'll be fine with me."

That conversation happened on yesterday, which is Monday.

And today is Tuesday, Maia's very first Swimming Class.

"It's alright, Maia-chan," said Harada Riku cheerfully, now a very close friend of hers. One arm slung around her trembling shoulders, Riku dragged Maia out of the changing room and into the vast swimming pool of Azumano High, which is much bigger and spacious than their middle school year's swimming pool. "There are a lot of champion swimmers in our class here, so you're safe in case anything_ did_ happen to you in the waters."

"But-" Maia trembled, the tremors clear in her now timid little voice. "I'm really not suited with swimming. I'll sink instead of float!"

Riku barked out a laugh. "You're really exaggerating! The human body is designed to float instead of sink, well, unless you _wanted _yourself to sink under the water."

"Riku-chan! Please believe me! I'll seriously sink before I could start to think of the word 'float'!" Maia protested loudly, in fear and started to shake as they came nearer and nearer to the edge of the pool.

"Well, Hiwatari-kun could teach you," Riku said to Maia when he saw Satoshi came towards them with her boyfriend, Daisuke. "He's our champion swimmer, but he rarely gets into the pool" she added. "The guy said he had some kind of duty preventing him from changing into swimming trunks and had to stay formal in his school uniform. He actually had a license in performing CPR. Last time he had to did it on Ni-"

"Riku!" Daisuke came forward conveniently to break up the conversation upon sensing the impending doom of some dire secret being poured out of Riku's mouth, effectively intercepted and silencing the surprised Riku from saying anything further. "Hi! Let's leave Hiwatari-kun and Akihiko-san to their own training, shall we?"

"Then what are we gonna do then?" Riku asked, having patted her chest to calm her rapidly pounding heart down at the proximity between hers and Daisuke's lips. She could feel her face heated up at the thought of him kissing her with those lips just last night, and with lots and lots of passion at that. To top it off, her boyfriend is wet from shower, just like everyone else. _So sexy_, she thought to herself, blushing deeper still.

Daisuke noticed Riku's gradually reddened blush and smiled to himself. _So I still had _that_ kind of effect on her huh?_ He thought to himself. Riku still acted like when they first started going out, blushing whenever he gets too close. His grin widened even more. He liked it.

"Niwa said that he wanted to have a race with you, Harada-san," said a voice from behind Maia. Both hands placed on her shoulders from behind, Satoshi loomed in closer to Daisuke's face and flashed him the angry vein mark on his forehead, signifying him to distance himself from Maia. That is when Daisuke realized that he had stood too close with Maia for Satoshi's liking. "And Maia's training with me," he added, talking through gritted teeth and glaring at Daisuke. "I've promised her that."

All blush disappeared at the mention of a competition, Riku immediately pulled Daisuke away from Maia and Satoshi, all the while saying loudly, "If it's a competition you want, a competition you'll get!"

Maia watched as both Riku and Daisuke dived surely and confidently into the waters, swimming and gliding in it like dolphins. She'd love to be like that for once, but she just couldn't get a hold of her phobia for deep watery surfaces. Then there's the cold prickly feeling that she is watched, as if there is a predator out there in the swimming pool trying to get her. She tried to shake it off as her over-imagination and her fear of being surrounded by water.

That is when Maia noticed Satoshi's attire.

His torso is unashamedly bare before her, wearing only thin and tight blue school swimming trunks. He had previously taken a shower before coming into the swimming hall, water dripping from his straight wet bangs, highlighting his very blue eyes. She liked the idea of him in his current state, but her eyebrow twitched from the immense sound of giggles behind her, no doubt lead by Risa.

She presses together her lips comically when Satoshi greet her with a smile, who knew she was jealous right off the start. That widens up his smile; his smile bright and inviting, several girls fainted from the sight of the smiling Hiwatari Satoshi. He just loves watching her getting jealous over him.

"Come, Maia," said Satoshi, pulling Maia away from the water and still grinning ear to ear, much to her frustration. "I'll teach you how to do warming up first before we go dip a little at the much shallower pool over there-" he said while pointing towards the far end of the vast swimming hall, the lone shallower pool stood alone. "-and of course, we'll be bringing some floating balloons. I'll hold your hand too if you're afraid. We'll do the basics first before we go to the deeper pools alright?"

Maia looked like she would have cried and kissed him right there on the spot, but there's too many people and there's the thing about her pride so she just whispered a small "Thank you, Sato-kun," to him, which he heard and smiled in response. Really, taking care of an Akihiko Maia is easy if one would just eliminate her fear.

Then something not right happened. As soon as Maia stepped into the swimming pools area, an ominous feeling arisen within her heart, telling her not to go any further, especially into the waters. She couldn't fathom as to why she would have this kind of feelings. It has happened a few times before after she came to Azumano-Chou, and whenever it happened, she would step away from that place and, just like she had felt, the place she had felt an ominous feeling upon would have either something dangerous fell upon them or something not pleasant happening.

And since then, she chooses to trust her gut feeling.

Her eyes widened in fear as she observe the way the water lapped around the edge of the pool, as if it's licking its watery lips at the sight of her, wanting to drag her down into the water once again to complete the history.

Instantly, she recoiled back in fear.

"Sa-Sato-kun!" Maia called out, preparing to run back to safety, but is prevented by Satoshi's firm grip on her wrist, almost carrying her with one arm as she continued to run. "Sato-kun! I don't wanna!"

"If you want to graduate from this school you'll have to do this," Satoshi said in an almost threatening voice, rolling his eyes in disbelief. "Or otherwise you'll just have to submit a great excuse like mine to be excused from extra curriculums."

"But you're here today!" Maia said, still trying to get away from Satoshi. Even as she struggled with all her might, Satoshi steadfastly dragged her across the pools, all eyes on them and with Maia making no progress at all in escaping the ominously whispering waters.

"To teach you!" Satoshi exclaimed, rolling his eyes in disbelief again. He had promised to teach her last night when they were having dinner, and she had looked so grateful and calm at that. He summed up that there must be something or someone that is making her this nervous.

_It couldn't be Harada Riku,_ thought Satoshi. When she came into class, she even looked a tad bit exciting when she talked about swimming. She seemed to balk when she stepped into the swimming pools vicinity. _Something must be scaring her,_ he thought again. _Or else she won't be behaving as if she's going to get murdered by someone._

**Or something**, added Krad from the back of Satoshi's mind. **Something doesn't seems right here either for me, so be careful, Satoshi-sama.**

_What do you mean by 'something's not right'? _Satoshi asked Krad, his eyes furrowed in questioning.

**There's an ominous feeling in this place, **said Krad. **And apparently, the lady has already noticed it long ago, and is terribly distressed about it. I must insist that Satoshi-sama should never leave her side. Something bad might happen should she be left alone.**

It was really quite the sight; the ever so cool Hiwatari Satoshi dragging a tearing up Akihiko Maia across towards the shallower pool for beginners. Everyone watched as both of them started to do some warming up, with Satoshi standing in front of her and teaching her about the moves of warming up, and most of the time looked appalled when Maia would stare up at him in confusion and complete innocence.

"My guess is that Maia-chan doesn't even know what's a warming up, let alone do one to begin," said Daisuke cheerfully to Riku, who elbowed him in the ribs, smirking when he winced in pain.

"You can't really blame her for her lack of knowledge in the more active sports department," said Riku sympathetically. "She really is clumsy, and she told me that her brother forbade her to actually enter into fields that are involved with sports. Apparently, he didn't like the idea of his sister breaking into sweats by sports or exercising."

Daisuke's eyes turned wide. "Are you for real?" Daisuke said, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah," Riku replied. "But not really. She hurts herself more than she ever could whenever she's in sports garbs. She told me she sustained more wounds from sports than from her walking home. Her brother's a worrywart, so he wrote a letter to her school and asks that they'd excuse her from sports. It seems like her brother haven't sent her a letter of excuse to this school yet."

Daisuke whistled in amazement. _**More wounds from sports than walking home?**_ Dark said from within Daisuke, listening attentively to Riku's story. _**That must be some pretty serious clumsy chick that is to be falling down even when she walks home.**_

"But one thing for certain is that Maia-chan's really good at anything involving with art," Riku continued, admiration in her eyes. "Art of music, art of drawings, art of dances; she's really good at them! I bet she'll be your greatest rival in art classes."

When the time came for Maia to finally dip her feet into the water, she put up a great fight against Satoshi's rather muscular arms.

"Maia," he started with gritted teeth, trying his best to coax Maia into the shallow water, "If you would just put your feet into the water…It's warmed up earlier."

By means of coaxing, he pushed with all his might against Maia, who is just one step away from the pool's edges. When the water lapped against her feet, she squeaked loudly.

"Kya!" she screamed, her whole body and mind rejecting the waters in the pool and she balked mightily, flipping Satoshi straight into the water with just one move.

Everyone gaped in shock. Never in their life have they seen the cool Ice Prince been flipped like a rag doll. To top it off, he's been sent straight into the pool.

Everyone paused for the unfolding drama.

Sighing, Satoshi merely flipped back his bangs and look at Maia through his eyelashes, a 'Did you know what you have done just now?' look on his face.

"I-I'm sorry, Sato-kun," Maia said apologetically, her voice trembled guiltily. "I-I can't do it. It- The waters- they hate me…they don't like me…"

Stepping a few steps back, she prepared to turn around and run when instead of running into empty space, she rammed her face and torso straight into a huge, round and soft wall, and sent that 'wall' into the water with a loud embarrassing grunt and splash.

Maia had her eyes closed the entire time, and didn't notice that the person she had sent into the water is Yamamoto-sensei. Everyone watched, once again gaping as the scene and drama unfolds into something more malicious and unfortunate.

"Akihiko Maia!" their P.E teacher shouted angrily, steam practically huffed out from both his nose and ears. "How dare you!"

The whole class has gone silent in the stadium. Only the sound of water lapping the side of the pool and the sound of someone giggling in a high pitched voice broke the tense atmosphere. "Oh, how dare her…teehee!" Risa said loudly, angering the teacher further.

Yamamoto-sensei, aka 'The Great Bull of Azumano High School', is a scary and extremely proud teacher who's a tad bit cracked in the head. He mocked girls who wears miniskirts to school when it is just part of the school's uniform, he mocked students who are having a relationship with each other just because he's single, and he ogles at the most sought after girl in the high school division; Akihiko Maia.

But now that she embarrasses him in public, he snapped, forgetting all along that he had had perverted thoughts on his student, Akihiko Maia. Fuming like a bull, the meatball-like teacher waded out of the water in an unsightly way and get out of the pool, storming towards Maia angrily; like a bull who saw red in his eyes.

All together, the class burst out in laughter.

That's the time when the teacher realizes that his bottom felt cold. He made a mistake of turning around and facing the whole class, and saw boys vomited and girls squeaked and covering their eyes in disgust. Only then he looked down and discovered, to his surprise, some article of his clothing is missing.

Some _important _article of his clothing, leaving him wrapped only in his gradually slipping loincloth.

"Please use this quickly, sensei," said Satoshi coolly, picking up the red sweatpants, eyebrows twitching at the very idea that he might as well be holding his teacher's loincloth, rumored to be washed only the night before new year. "We don't want rumors of a bottomless teacher in the pool stadium to be the one news to sully the pride of Azumano High School," he added, coldly staring at the teacher, not happy with the way he had shouted at Maia.

Waddling towards Satoshi, the teacher made a quick grab for his clothing article and jumped back into the water, trying twice harder to put his pants up in the water while the class continued to roar in laughter.

"Aki-hiko!" the teacher puffed his face, red with embarrassment and a scorching glare directed towards Maia. "20 laps- 20! Around the pools for your unsightly behavior on a teacher! Right now!"

"She just _bumped_ into you, Yamamoto-sensei," Satoshi said, having gotten out of the water and have one of his arms put up in front and defending Maia, who was nearing tears, trying to put up a brave front and yet hiding behind Satoshi's back all at the same time. "Plus, she's not even at a beginner's level to start with-"

"I'm the teacher here, Hiwatari!" the teacher howled at the top of his lungs, his face turning redder in the process. "I gave orders around! And when the orders are out, I expect them to be done ASAP! I don't care about your inability to swim, because all those are CRAPS! Nobody can never not swim in my class!"

Satoshi could feel Maia winced at the teacher's last word. Sighing softly, he patted Maia's hand on his shoulder, which she had gripped in fear. _It's not her fault that she fears water, _thought Satoshi.

**Shall I finish him? **Krad asked from within, rubbing his hands in anticipation.

_Just stay put. Let me deal with this._

"-to at least wade like a duck! A DUCK! Ya hear me!" the teacher hollered, eyes almost bulging out of his skull. Giving Maia another glare, he screamed towards the class and said, "CLASS DISMISSED!"

With that, the teacher huffed away in all his wet glory. Now everybody knows that the perverted teacher won't ogle at Maia again for quite some time.

* * *

"Don't wanna! Don't wanna! I don't wannnaaaaaaa!" Maia protested rather pitifully, her face red from irritation.

After class, just as the teacher had 'ordered', Maia obediently went to the swimming stadium with Satoshi and Daisuke in tow, the latter offered by Riku to teach and assist the Supreme Commander in teaching the sports dunce Maia about swimming after her 20 laps around the swimming pool. Just like she had done in the morning, Maia balked the moment she heard the sound of water lapping the side of the pool and the feel of the cold tiles under her feet. She turned to escape, only to find herself slammed into Satoshi's broad chest. He had tried to persuade her to, again, dip her feet into the water, but she had downright rejected his idea and insisted that she wanted to go home. As Daisuke noticed, Satoshi's patience is wearing thin.

"Maia," Satoshi started again, trying to hide his irritation by taking a big huff of air. "You heard what the teacher said; you _have_ to learn how to waddle like a duck-"

"Not like a duck, Hiwatari-kun," Daisuke intercepted, eyebrows knitted together with worry, unable to help the bickering couple from solving Maia's fear. "He said 'at least', which means she had to be able to swim even if it's the most basic form of swimming."

"For your information, Niwa Daisuke," started Satoshi, irritation plastered on his handsome wet features. "Yamamoto-sensei is the _most _troublesome and old-fashioned thinker and teacher in Azumano High School. All the other teachers accepted my reasons to catch Dark-" Daisuke's eyes twitched a little. "-just fine and that I had to be excused from all other curriculums for that, but that particular sensei had had to see my father before he could excuse me from any activities at all."

"I heard the rumors said that he likes Akihiko-san," Daisuke begin in a small voice, appearing fearful of the Surpreme Commander at the mention of Dark, completely missing Satoshi's priceless expression when he froze upon hearing what he thought he had heard correctly with his sharp hearing. "But I never knew he would go this far just to force her to stay behind after school to practice…"

"And don't get me started on the 'imagine what he would do to her' if he were to stay back after school and personally teaches her to swim," Satoshi said in a steely voice, his eyes hard with disbelief. For once, he allowed his imaginations to run wild, and most of them included a screaming Maia with her clothes torn off. "Coz I don't want to end up doing something I would regret later on."

**Assault**, Krad suggested innocently.** Or sexual harassment. Probably rape-**

"Shut up, Krad!" Satoshi retorted back angrily, jerking Maia out of her little stupor and Daisuke off his mumblings. The very thought of that teacher lying his hands on _his _Maia made his blood boil. He balled up his fist and bit his lips hard to keep his emotions back in check.

_**Something tells me that idiot of a Krad said something about rape and sexual harassment,**_ Dark mused in Daisuke's mind.

_Lucky you_, Daisuke said bitterly to Dark. _Hiwatari-kun looks angry enough to look like a bull. Don't ever let him hear that._

"Maia…" Satoshi started again, holding onto Maia's shoulders so as to not frighten her. She looked every bit like a frightened gazelle while he is a wolf trying to sweet talk her into submission. His mouth twitched at the irony of it. "I'll hold your hand. I'll even get into the water with you. Nothing would hurt you in the water-"

"I don't wanna!" continued to protest, her voice echoing in the swimming stadium. "The water hates me! Can't you listen to it calling to me? It's calling me! It wants me in there with them! I don't wanna! I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared!"

"I'm here!" Satoshi exclaimed, stopping Maia effectively by gripping and shaking her shoulders, his brilliant blue eyes boring into her brown ones. He could see tears swimming in her eyes, and for a moment, guilt trashed within his very being. He almost wanted to tell her that it's okay to stop and not practice and fail her curriculum activities and not learn how to swim.

Almost.

"I wished- no, I _want_ you to be able to swim," Satoshi said quietly. "I _want _you to at least learn how to swim so that I won't have to worry about leaving you at home alone since we're living so near to the cliffs. With your tendency to attract trouble, I won't be surprised if someone reported to the police that someone near my house has fallen from a cliff just to pick a flower for her vase."

"Maia-san," Daisuke dared himself to interrupt, and seeing Satoshi did not glare at him, he continued bravely, "Hiwatari-san's right you know. Lucky as you are, people can't always be there for you when danger strikes. This is the least he could do to protect you, teaching you things that you could do to help yourself when you're alone and in a dangerous position. He worries about you a lot, you know?"

Maia remained quiet the whole time both of them advising her, making her aware that she is doing a stupid job and throwing Satoshi's hard work into the drain. When she gaze at their thoughtful expression, one face to the other, and back to the first one again, her emotions came bubbling up from her heart and out of her eyes and mouth, tears pouring from her eyes like waterfalls and mouth wailed loudly in a pitiful way.

Naturally, both boys got alarmed at the sight of a crying girl. Fearful that someone would come in and misunderstood their situation, Satoshi and Daisuke tried their best to console Maia.

"Oh, my dear God," Daisuke said, who panicked and started to dance around. "I'm so sorry, Maia-san! I shouldn't have said those hurtful things! Oh, dear God!"

"Maia? Maia, I'm sorry too, but all I want is for you to learn how to defend yourself," Satoshi said quickly and awkwardly, both of his hands patting Maia's back quickly and lightly, appearing obviously terrified at the sight of a crying Maia. "Maia? If that's too hard for you-"

"I wanna learn!" Maia said sobbingly, rubbing her eyes away from the tears and continued to sob and talk at the same time. "I'm scared, but I wanna learn! I don't want to be a sinking human for the rest of my life! I'm afraid of the water, but I wanna learn!"

If possible, her crying intensifies. Comically, Daisuke's still dancing around with his hands in his hair while Satoshi, well, Satoshi's Satoshi, so he just continued to talk and talk and talk, and pat Maia's back affectionately and guiltily.

* * *

It has been long hours. Long. It got to be at least 3 hours after that before Maia finally dared to let go of his hand and float on her own in a lifebuoy. By that time, Satoshi's hand is left cramped and painfully stiff, all thanks to Maia's great fear for water. Long, hard hours have passed them by in a mere blink of an eye for the constant support from Daisuke and Satoshi's unwavering determination to teach Maia how to float in water.

Well, at least that's what Satoshi felt.

For Daisuke, nothing would be better to make the simple-minded thief grin widely like his idiot of a counterpart than a floating Maia. It was hard to steal artworks from the museum when you can count on Satoshi to set up annoying booby traps, but it was harder still for Maia to just learn how to float. He can see Maia's working hard and putting efforts into her works. She dearly wanted to learn, and she eagerly tried to push back her fear and pull out the brave part of her. She wanted to please the both of them, and she loved nothing more than hearing a praise or two from Satoshi. Praises from the genius would brighten her day and chase away the dark clouds for her. Yes, praises from him energized her.

Half an hour later, they decided it's high time they get home. Light drizzles are already starting to wet the hot pavement outside of the stadium. Daisuke were to put the life buoys back to the stores and head straight home, while Satoshi and Maia were to mop up the pools area as instructed by the school's caretakers. None of them protested, and they proceeded with the plan before the rain got heavier.

Until Satoshi noticed Daisuke's silver pendant on the tile's floor. It was a gift from Riku for his birthday last year, and in some way or another, his mother had used that pendant's design as the house key for him; his grandpa and parents were still using normal keys, but in Daisuke's case, his key is that pendant, and without it, he'd be sleeping outside. Daisuke once told Satoshi his mom is crazy. He just nodded his head in agreement.

Pitying the redhead, Satoshi held the pendant in his hand. Should he find him now? Or should he give the pendant to him tomorrow? If he gives it tomorrow, he'll be sleeping outside. The rain's getting heavier and heavier, and there's a test tomorrow morning too. But if he were to give it to him, what about Maia?

He turned around to look at her. She had started to hum a little song and squeezing water out of the mop. He knew she's afraid. He can felt her fear rushing off her in waves. She's only singing to assure herself in a way. He can't leave her here.

If only the redhead is coming back here.

Maia notices Satoshi's confused look while holding Daisuke's pendant. She knows the story behind Daisuke's pendant, and she knows he wanted to help his friend. Satoshi does not have many friends, and when he did have one, he'd try his best to cherish them. He'd grown up in a lonely environment, and had possibly grown used to the feeling, but still, Maia thought that it's not healthy for someone like him to be without a friend. He used to hold her tightly to him whenever they embraced, and she'd hold him back patiently and equally lovingly. He remembered everything she said, and he continued to ponder hard and long; should he choose his friend, Daisuke Niwa, or should he choose his lover, Akihiko Maia?

"Sato-kun," Maia called Satoshi, knowing that he is confused with the choices. He turned around to meet her, only to have her snatch his mop away from his hand, surprising him. And she was smiling at him. A bright, big grin of a smile he once labeled as her 'idiotic grin'.

"If you go now you might catch up to Niwa-kun," she said to him softly. She saw how his eyes widened for a fraction, as if he wanted to reject the idea and opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. "Just go, or you might not find him in time to come back for me. I'll be here waiting and clean everything else up."

"Maia-" he started, but she surprised both of them by putting up a great defense and continued to chatter.

"It's not that hard, Sato-kun," she said, turning back and continued to mop the wet tiled floors, paying great attention to the mop she had snatched from Satoshi, in case he thought that it's better to leave his friend behind and continued to mop the floors with her. "It's just mopping the wet floor. I'll be fine by myself. It'll be good that you go after that redhead. I'd feel guilty tomorrow if I were you, Sato-kun, seeing as you held the house key he had accidentally left behind. I mean, how can someone forget their own house key? I'd understand it if they're forgetful, like me, you know, but I couldn't if it were someone like Niwa Daisuke. He's so smart, like you sometimes, but being this forgetful is kind of hard to believe."

Satoshi smiled as his heart swell with happiness. It was rare for someone to be so understanding towards him, and more so close to him. Wrapping his arms around her small torso, Satoshi squeezed Maia in his arms, kissing her shoulders and inhaling the lovely scent from her hair.

"Thank you, Maia," he whispered to her, a soft smile on his attractive features. Maia smiled back, patting his back softly.

"You've got to get going right about now if you still wanted to catch up to Niwa-kun."

Breaking apart, Satoshi kissed her cheek softly before whispering to her in the ear, "I'll be back soon. Wait for me."

"I will," Maia whispered back, and with that, Satoshi went speeding off into the rain.

Sighing at the sudden loss of heat, Maia turned to survey the progress around the pool; there are still a quarter of the pool's tiles that needed to be dried with a mop.

Suddenly, everything went dark.

Her heart started to pick up speed as she stood in the dark, anxiousness started to settle on her like a cloak and hung on to her, whispering fear into her mind while she sensed danger lurking around in the dark.

"Hello Maia-chan!" a voice echoed suddenly in the pool stadium. The rippling sound of water and dripping droplets made the stadium an eerie place to be. Almost all the lights were out, save a few light older light bulbs that have old-fashioned switches, which were installed in other places, far away from the new switches, making the place looked more unnatural.

To make things worse, the waters started to lap up a little by the tiled pool's side, calling out to her in a way that only she could hear. She shivered a little from the sudden drop of temperature, wishing that she could just throw down the mop and leave this place.

"Up here, Maia-chan!" a loud, cheeky voice called her from above, echoing in the pool stadium. Confusion flooded her. She thought that the pool stadium is devoid of anyone but her and Satoshi? "Look up!"

And look up she did. The first thing that she notices are not the many guys surrounding the crouching and grinning chap, but the one thing that the crouching guy held in his hand, dangling it off the pool dangerously within its flimsy and frail ribbon.

It was the white rose corsage that Satoshi gave her on Saint White Day. Maia's heart nearly skidded into a stop that had her held her breath.

The crouching guy smiled at her widely, grinning evenly at her. "I found this in the midst of clothing's and a very colorful panty hidden in a bag at the hallway. I trust that it is yours?" As if to rate the importance of the white rose corsage, the guy moved and flicked his wrist back and forth, sending the light of the corsage's diamond sparkling under the poor dim light of the pool's stadium. Maia's eyes widened alarmingly.

"Give it back to me please?" Maia pleaded miserably. "It's important to me."

Maia bit her lips in distress, desperate to hold her white rose corsage. Since Satoshi gave it to her on Saint White Day and wore it for one whole day, she has been reluctant to want others to see her corsage, let alone touching it and dangle it right in front of her eyes. In her opinion, it was the first thing that Satoshi gave her. The very ornament is so important and precious to her that somehow, she had felt the need to bring it with her wherever she goes, and yet she doesn't want anyone to lay eyes on it and admire the beauty that Satoshi had woven for her. She _needs_ it to be by her side.

The man grinned all the more, happy that he had picked the right object. "I know it's important," he said knowingly, still in that cheeky tone. "We all heard it on the announcer on Saint White Day a while ago. Both yours and that brat's confession is quite romantic, by the way, and that's why I choose to take it with me, to let you know I have the proof of his confession."

Maia's heart skipped another beat. "What?" Her mind started to speed up, conjuring a whirlwind of questions and confusions. "Announcer? How? When?"

Rolling his eyes, the man said to her, "Oh well, we did a little 'extra work' on the speakers, so that part of the building's speaker wouldn't work while the other part of the school's speaker works. It's intended for our friend to confess to you so that when you have said yes, and the whole school would have heard it, and you wouldn't try to leave our friend's heart broken by breaking up with him, because by then you'll know about the whole school knowing your story through the announcer and it'd be quite humiliating if the whole school found out you've broken up with someone who had confessed with you on Saint White Day. They'd think that it's a taboo for new lovers who had confessed on Saint White Day to breakup. It's just that simple."

"Your friend?" Maia said in a confused tone. Somehow unable to grasp the situation and the 'friend' that the man had been trying to protect from heartbreak, Maia tried to think if there is anyone who she had seen before Satoshi came to rescue her from a ribbon mistake. All she could come up with is Takuma Yuujiro, the Vice President of the Student Council.

She thought that it's impossible the Vice President would get involve with someone like this man here. Somehow, her mind told her that nothing is impossible, and that things might just get worse if she continued to stay here.

_I can't,_ she told herself. _My rose corsage is still in his hand. I need to get it back._

And her mind seemed to have better judgement ability than herself, and proved her thoughts wrong when the man gave her his answer with a name that had her cover her mouth with her hands.

"Takuma Yuujiro," the man said, delights rushing into him when Maia clasped a hand on her mouth to stop herself from making any shocked voice. "He's my best friend, and I'd sworn to protect that boy's frail heart from heartbreak from silly girls like you."

"But…" Maia pondered whether to defend herself from such accusing words from the man who claimed to be the vice president's best friend, and thought it's better to get to know the situation well before deciding whether to run in head on or to do a little psycho conversation with him. "But I never confessed to him before. He did."

"And you should have agree to it," said the man shockingly, surprising Maia. "Among all the girls in Azumano High School, you have the best attitude and personalities, and to back your goodness up, your family background is exceptional, like Yuu-chan's family. Lucky you, that guy liked you since the first day. It's rare for him to like someone, and when it happened, that feeling will stay in that guy for a long time. But then I thought, that won't be the problem for the both of you to be together, because perfect plus perfect would be super perfect!" the man raised both of his arms into the air and did a victorious sign, and as sudden as that came, he looked down at her angrily. "-and you just had to drop yourself into that genius brat's arms instead of Yuu-chan's arms, wasting your talents and your good family background for that broken family boy!"

"Satoshi and I met long before I met Takuma-senpai!" Maia argued back, angry from all the accusation placed on Satoshi as if it were his fault for being there for her when nobody has. "We belong to each other in ways nobody would ever understand, and that include you!" Maia pointed a finger back at the man accusingly, her emotions flying all around her and seemed to envelop her whole being with red hot flames, burning her fuels and urging her on. "You're just a selfish bastard who accused everyone just for being imperfect, and you dared to accuse the one I love! Well I'll tell you what, you're just a downright domineering and selfish man who controls who can or cannot be with your best friend! That is not right, I tell you, because you're acting as if you're his mother or his matchmaker! I will never be good for anyone but Satoshi!"

Her good side argued with her decision to continue with the argument. She felt a sudden rush of danger and adrenaline pumping into her system, activating her Fight or Flight mode and still, she refused to leave and instead, stepped further deeper into the dangerous zone and raised her voice once more.

"And I will drop this corsage into the water if you won't shut your big mouth at once!" the man exclaimed loudly, his voice boomed and echoed in the vast swimming pool stadium. That effectively silenced Maia, and she looked on at him sadly, her anger fading away quickly.

"Why?" Maia asked worriedly, hoping that he won't drop her precious corsage into the pool. "Why did you do this? I know Takuma-senpai is not the kind of person to send someone just so they could threaten me, so why? Why are you doing this?"

If a grin could split up a man's face into two, the crouching guy might have had a severe case of the jaw separated from the skull due to grinning too much. There was a hard determination in his eyes, and as Maia continued to observe him, she noticed a sort of emotion that is akin to people or animals who were loyal to someone. That is when she realizes that she actually feel sorry for the man, knowing that such a level of loyalty would only result in premature death.

"Why don't you come up here and I'll tell you why?" said the man, his half-crazed grin wide on his face.

Maia looked up at the man. Her inner turmoil and alarm is all breaking out, telling her to run and run and run, into the arms of the one person who can truly make her feel safe, and instead, she made up her mind and said softly and carefully, "Will you give me back my rose corsage if I agree to come up?"

The man slapped his hand on top of his chest gallantly. "I promise," he said solemnly. "-so come on up. We won't bite."

Carefully, Maia moved closer to the metal ladder that leads up to the gang waiting for her above. _My white rose corsage, _Maia thought anxiously. _I must get it back._

As soon as her fingers came into contact with the metal ladder, her whole body jerked in reaction and send her balking, almost running for the door from the amount of danger she felt from above. But she held her ground. She has to hold her ground, she told herself. She has to, if she wants her rose corsage back. She needs it. It's hers. It's the first present Satoshi gave her, and she can't lose it no matter what happens.

Forcing herself, Maia climbed the ladder. With each contact her skin made with the cold metal, she repeated the words, "My rose corsage. I had to get it back." Over and over and over again, like a mantra.

It felt as if she had been climbing for days, but when she arrived, she saw that the guy who had threatened to drop her corsage earlier is no longer crouching down, but standing up and, horrifyingly enough, _dangling _her white rose corsage on empty air.

"I said I'd give it back to you," the guy started, grinning wide from ear to ear, "-so catch."

As soon as he finished his words, he flung the delicate corsage into the water below him.

With an indignant cry, Maia rushes forward in a speed she never knew she possesses and hurled herself off the board and into the air, one arm stretched out to catch the corsage.

It was as if time had stopped at that moment; the white rose corsage in the air, while she stretches her hand outward as far as she could, trying to catch the white rose corsage and flung it somewhere on land to safety. The menacing voices of the water vibrated all around her, drowning the laughs of the group of boys watching as she gallantly went out of her way to save a fake white rose, unknown of its price and how valuable it is in her heart, willingly laying down her sanity and life for that single piece of corsage, containing all of her wonderful memories that she had spun with Satoshi.

_Satoshi, _she thought about him at that moment, her fingers mere inches away from the corsage in the air. _I'm sorry._

With another terrified squeak, she came into contact with the water and the group of boys laughed even more as they watch Maia being swallowed by the water whole, creating a torrent of bubbles arising from underneath, leaving the single rose corsage floating innocently on the water, a soft glow surrounding it, preventing it from getting wet, staying dry all on its own.

All of them laughed heartily as Maia broke the surface of the pool, spitting and coughing out water out of her lungs. All of them make fun of her, commenting that it's just water and that she's not supposed to be afraid of it like a kid. Then they saw her eyes looking at them.

It was akin to that of someone afraid of a shadow lurking in the corner of an infamously dangerous alleyway. Maia panted fearfully; shivering in the cold of the water and awaiting the moment when something she knew was there all the time finally take its action and attacks her. As she waits for the moment, she struggles to keep fearfully silent, unable to help it as her teeth started to chatter.

A long moment passed with nothing happens. They boys all had had their fun and revenge, and with one wave of his hand, the leader of the group led the group away from the pools, heading towards the direction where the sun had long set. For now, they let go of Akihiko Maia, the beautiful girl with the warm brown eyes, and they'll come back for more revenge on her, ignoring her soft whisper and pleads for help of getting her out of the water.

As soon as the stadium's door slammed shut, the water started turning wild. Survival instinct gripped at her heart tightly like a hook and string got attached by a fish, Maia tried to get to the side of the pool quickly, eagerly trying to reach for something that she could brace and hold in her hands for her life. The feeling of dread continued to weigh heavily on her shoulders, sinking her further into the water.

And that was the moment when she realizes that she's floating in the pool.

She's floating.

Floating, like a normal human, like a normal person ought to do instead of sinking as if their ankles are tied up with an anchor. Floating; Akihiko Maia is floating.

A fleeting moment of happiness and pride surged through her chest, and the next thing she knows is that the invisible string that binds her ankles to an anchor was real after all. With a gurgle, her scream got stuck in her throat as invisible forces pulled her under the water. Trashing wildly, she barely broke the surface inhaling a large gulp of air before she is pulled back under the current, the water swirling wilder than ever.

The water brought her small frames swirling around, as if she's stuck in a whirlpool. The water jerked her into a bend suddenly, surprising her. She watched as a large silver bubble of air escapes from her mouth. _I'm going to need that, _she thought to herself, feeling as if the world had abandoned her for good.

Her visions started to have spots of black when her oxygen ran out. Like a black hole in the universe, she compared them to, as she watched them grew larger and larger in size. She knew it then, that this is the moment; her moment of death had arrived far earlier than she had ever expected. She mused to herself maybe this is the worst way to die in her dictionary, going out of oxygen and being pressed by a few tons of water. Slowly, she sank to the bottom of the pool, her tied ankles felt more like tentacles slowly caressing her in a creepy loving way that made her have goose bumps.

_**We love you…**_a mixture of a whale-like whine and a deep baritone voice echoed all around her, its confession sincere and true. Maia's heart seemed to break from the wave after wave of emotions washing her all over, sad and appear truly touched by it.

Then the water turns ominous, where obsessions and selfish wants spiraled around her, growing tighter and heavier by the minute. _**We want you…**_the voice said again, this time with dark and evil wants in them. _**Stay with us forever…**_

_No…_ _This is not the way I'm going to die, _thought Maia. _Yeah, I know, the water's all blue and it's my favorite color,_ but _I'm going to die by the side of someone I love, not by something I fear. Only by looking at his face could I go peacefully. Just a picture would suffice. A flashback, if it's even possible… Maybe I'll just haunt this place later, and those horrible boys who did this to me. At least, in this way, nobody would know I'm critically sick and going to die soon either way._

Her vision started to darken a great deal when she mused to herself for the last time. _Maybe I would go in a happier way if I can just see Sato-kun, tell him I love him, and kiss him for real…_

Then she opened her eyes, thinking that possibly this is the last time she could do it, for her energy's draining quickly. Her blurred eyesight caught a movement far away from her. A dolphin- no, not a dolphin, a water nymph is swimming lithely towards her. No, not one, but two male water nymph. _So beautiful,_ she thought to herself,_ might as well be gorgeously handsome_. One had fiery red hair while the other a beautiful blue, _her _blue, reminding her strongly of Satoshi.

Then she closed her eyes. A moment passed, and another moment passed. She opened her eyes, and saw someone familiar swimming towards her.

_And here I thought water nymphs have tails or something, _Maia mused to herself again, consciousness slipping away from her fast and steadily. The two water nymphs have short hair; one a fiery red while the other her favorite blue.

_Like Satoshi's hair…_Maia thought to herself blurrily, her vision and consciousness slipping away from her rapidly. _Satoshi…_Maia said again in her thought, as if trying to get used to the idea of calling him 'Satoshi' instead of the usual nickname she gave him, 'Sato-kun'. She liked how his name rolled in her tongue. _Sa-to-shi, _she practiced again, smiling as the water nymphs gets closer and closer to her.

She saw the water nymphs with the fiery hair opened a white bubble that seemed to surround her within, his beautiful visage pained and straining before he finally pulls out a black feather out of nowhere and points at the bubble, which burst in a flurry of glittering bubbles, a loud whale-like whine sounded all around her, and the ominous feelings surrounding her disappeared.

One of the water nymphs quickly swam to her, his blue hair flowing gently around his face, making him appear almost ethereal.

Not to mention he looked a great deal alike to her boyfriend, Satoshi.

Before she realizes it, the blue-haired water nymph had pulled her close to him. She felt someone guiding her face and pulled her head forward, crushing their lips against hers, giving her breath. Immediately, Maia's instincts roused and roared within her, recognizing the air she needed most to survive. Clutching at his shirt, Maia kisses him deeply, taking in the sweet air greedily as her heart started to pump speedily, supplying her brain with oxygen. The water nymph held the back of Maia's head and crushed her to him, steadily supplying her with the much needed oxygen.

The moment they broke apart, Maia's new found oxygen threatened to escape again when she nearly screamed at the sight of Satoshi floating in front of her, surprised at his presence. His hand leaving a scorching warm feeling behind when he caressed her face, relief washed over him in waves at seeing her well and alive, albeit her situation of drowning a few seconds ago.

Pulling out a white feather, Satoshi pointed it upward and tugged her floating frame to his, wrapping his arm around her small waist rightly while all the time keeping his eyes on her. They quickly spin upward when the magic takes effect, breaking them through the surface like a rocket launching off the ground.

Upon coming into contact with air again, Maia immediately takes in large gulps of air greedily, panting as her vision swirled right in front of her very eyes once again, well aware of Satoshi's arm slung over her and gently drag her towards the side of the pool, Daisuke up ahead ready to haul her out of the water.

"Water spirit, Niwa," Satoshi huffed out, water dripping all over him as he, too, hauled himself off the pool. "Take it down before it realizes she's out of the water."

Without another word, Daisuke drew another black feather out of nowhere and threw it towards the water. It responded with a terrific whale-like whine and break out of the surface of the pool, it's enormous form glistening brightly with crystal-like shine. If it weren't a water spirit planning to drown Maia, Satoshi would have thought that it was a beautiful supernatural creature.

The creature rose to a very impressive height, almost touching the pool stadium's ceiling. It had taken the shape of a large killer whale, its body a complete color of crystal blue, taking after the pool's water. Water rained down upon the trio like rainwater. Daisuke threw out another set of black feathers towards the water spirit and instantly, black enchanted ropes snaked out and wrapped itself around the creature, entrapping it within Daisuke's magical prowess.

"Destroy it!" Satoshi call out above all the noises. The creature hovered in mid air above the pool and struggled greatly against Daisuke's magical binds. Maia watches as Daisuke's eyes shined with determination as he pulls out another black feather, seeming out of nowhere in front of his chest.

"Destroy it quick!" Maia heard Satoshi called out to Daisuke. It was that moment everything seemed to stop once again, going slow motion and allowing her ample amount of time to figure out that both redhead and Satoshi is intending to terminate the large killer whale. Her instinct within her roared with protest, pushing her up and forcing her to run and stop them from killing the spirit.

Vaguely realizing what she is doing, Maia exclaimed piercingly, her voice coming straight from her heart and soul, "NO! STOP! DON'T KILL IT!"

Everything went silent.

Daisuke, with his hand poised to throw the currently glowing dark feather, stared as Maia defended the very spirit who had tried to drown her.

He had found Satoshi running in the rain waving his locket, calling out his name while the red head walked on, oblivious to the shouting and ventured deep into his thoughts and soul, feeling something ominous growing as the time passes by. By the time Satoshi patted his shoulder and turned him around, both of them had realized in sync that there is indeed an ominous energy brewing somewhere behind them. Immediately, they took off into the rain and got back to the pool only to see that the water is swirling madly, circling a frail figure in the water.

So it came as a surprise when Maia, defending the creature behind her, stood defiantly in front of Daisuke and preventing him from finishing the spirit off.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that thing is?" Satoshi cried out angrily, one finger pointing at the killer whale, currently staring at Maia, its crystal blue eyes transfixed upon Maia's smaller frame admiringly, as if entranced by her very presence.

_Repeat, admiringly and entranced by her._

Satoshi almost rolled his eyes at the sight.

"I know," Maia said in a small voice, biting her bottom lips nervously in fear of everyone rejecting her thoughts. Desperately wanting everyone to understand what her point of view aims at, she continued hesitantly. "I know about that. I know and I remember what happened just now, but somehow, despite all that, I know he is good."

Satoshi almost felt his eyes popped out of their sockets. "He?" he croaked, disbelief in his voice. "How do you know that creature is a 'he'?"

"I don't know," Maia said to herself, frowning at the strange revelation of Satoshi's simple question. How did she know about it being a he? She didn't know, but she knew. It came to her like a new knowledge, a breath of fresh air, something that popped in her head out of the blue and acknowledged the spirit as a 'he'. The strange notion of knowing something that she didn't know made her shiver in fear. "Somehow, in ways I couldn't understand, I know he's a 'he', and I know, deep down, he is good."

Satoshi scoffed at her revelation. There is just something about Maia that made him afraid all the time, fearing that she might just fall down and hit her head all by herself, or accidentally killing herself when she least noticed it. He is angry that he had agreed to leave her alone in the stadium, and even more furious that he couldn't sense the ominous aura surrounding the pool until it's too late. If Daisuke and Satoshi himself had arrived a minute later, she could have drowned.

"There is no good or bad for such creatures," Satoshi hissed angrily, moving closer towards Maia. Despite his taller frame towering over her shorter ones and bristling with anger, she didn't back down or show any fear for him. He stared at her wet sopping form for a moment before enveloping her in a tight hug, clicking his tongue in disapproval of her judgment towards the water spirit, surprising her with his actions.

"Maia," he started in another softer tone. "That creature is a creature of water. They are ignorant of anything other than their habitual habitats. What they know is what's underwater, that's all. They are unfamiliar with how a human body works, nor how a land creature needs oxygen to breathe and to live. They do not know what is right or wrong. They're just-" Satoshi sighed loudly in frustration. Running a hand through his hair, he huffed, "Just how in the world did you get it so worked up that it became so obsessed with you?"

Maia smiled softly. It's rare to see Satoshi so vexed up, and she made a mental note to vex him up later so as to see him run his hand through his hair. _So sexy,_ she thought to herself.

"Something happened when you're not here," Maia said to Satoshi, patting his back affectionately, realizing that he is just afraid of her safety. She smiled to herself before continuing, "Something that involves the White Rose Corsage you gave me a while ago. I'll tell you everything after this, just give me a moment with him and we'll know why he wanted to drown me." Breaking apart, Maia held his cheek tenderly and stared up into his blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle amidst all the glowing that came from the killer whale spirit. "Please? I promise it'll be just a moment, and I will be safe."

Satoshi reached his hand up to caress Maia's cheek, noting to himself that her skin felt as cold as corpse. "Did you realize that you almost died just now because of that creature?" he stated in a low tune, voice almost hissing with anger at the thought of how it happened. "Did you forget that you almost drowned just now?"

Maia closed her eyes, leaning into his touch, savoring the welcoming warmth of his palm. It felt so hot against her cheek, warming her in a way no words could describe. "I know," she said softly, not wanting to see him so upset. "I promise you that it won't happen again if I can help it. Please?"

Satoshi took the time to study her expression; it was one with strong determination, the one look that tells him any decision of hers would not be thwarted easily with sweet talks or pleadings. Sighing in defeat, Satoshi loosed his hold on her and allowed her to step away from within his arms length, continuing to watch her carefully.

Little by little, Maia came closer to the spirit-whale, afraid of startling him. The tension that seemed to radiate off Satoshi and Daisuke is terrifyingly grave, sending a nerve-racking, tingling sensation down her spine, especially when she knew Satoshi had his all-knowing eyes fixated upon her.

_Like a hawk,_ she thought to herself.

Finally, she stopped. The spirit-whale, despite being compelled in Daisuke's magical bonds, still looked astonishingly impressive with its towering form. Droplets of water continued to drip down from various parts of the spirit-whale, creating a soothing – if not chilling – musical sound that reverberated throughout the cool deserted stadium. A whale-like whine came up from deep within the spirit-whale, its large head bending towards Maia, coming head to head with her smaller and far shorter frame.

**We love you…**said the spirit-whale, its flippers reaching out towards Maia's head, caressing the side of her head. Maia briefly realizes that this is a gentle creature, a spirit with a kind, soft soul that doesn't realizes that it's doing by pulling Maia underwater is killing her by cutting off her supply of oxygen. She realizes that it doesn't understand what human needs, and she realizes she is safe with the spirit-whale.

"I know," Maia said to the spirit-whale, who glowed excitedly when it realize what Maia is saying. "All the while I thought you hated me, but I now know you love me. I appreciate that, but still, I can't live with you, nor stay with you forever."

For a moment, everything is silent. The spirit-whale's flow started to grow dim. It is disappointed in what Maia had said to it, and whined softly in sadness.

"I am but a human being," Maia explained, one hand reaching up to hold the spirit-whale's head, caressing and enjoying its texture under her hand. "I need air. I need to breath, and I need to live my life here, because I, too, have a life on these dry lands. I can only choose one plane and one dimension to live, and it will always be land. I am born on land, and here I will stay until the day I die. I cannot stay with you."

The spirit-whale continued to whine in sadness. "Don't be sad," Maia said, comforting it as she patted its large wet head. "I live just by the cliff side. You can always come to visit me over there."

Turning around, Maia asks Daisuke to take off his magical bonds over the spirit-whale. That had Daisuke balk in shock.

"What?" he croaked unexpectedly, not expecting Maia to ask him, of all people, to release the spirit-whale. He glanced over at Satoshi, and immediately regretted it seeing as the blue-haired genius glared at him angrily. _He's so gonna kill me, _he thought to himself fearfully.

**Have no fear, my redheaded goon!** Dark chimed gallantly from within Daisuke. **I will save us from the troubles if ever the other half of me came out from his host and barrel right into us!**

_I'm not your goon, Dark-san._

"I am sure he won't harm anyone anymore," Maia said gently, one hand placed on the spirit-whale's head, patting it tenderly. "He understands now. Can you please release him?"

"Are you sure you won't regret this, Maia-san?" Daisuke asked her despite having beginning to loosen the magic surrounding the killer-whale. "It's not easy to reel in a spirit-whale this big you know?"

"I'll trust him with my soul, Niwa-kun," Maia said with a strange sparkle in her eyes, confident and completely placing her trust in the spirit-whale.

With a sigh of defeat, Daisuke brought down the magical bonds and freed the spirit-whale. With a last whale-like whine, the spirit slipped back into the pool and all is quiet.

"Well," Daisuke started. "That's kinda easy. Never knew you had it in you to tame a wild water spirit, Maia-san. That's impressive."

"Thank you, Niwa-kun," Maia said gratefully. Turning her attention back to Satoshi, she finds that he kept his eyes focused on the pool, as if something is bound to emerge back on again. Stepping closer to him, Maia held his hand and placed a light kiss on his cheek, jolting him from his little trance.

"Thank you for saving me, Sato-kun," Maia said gratefully, her eyes telling him of her love for him and for her appreciation at his willingness to dive into the dangerous water and save her. "If not for you, I would have long drowned myself down there."

Pulling her head towards him, he kissed her forehead tenderly and just held her like that for a moment. "I can't imagine life without you now, so try your best to stay alive for me alright?"

Maia smiled in his embrace. "I can't imagine my life without you too. My life right now is too good to be put to an end, so I'll try my best to stay alive."

"We never hate you, lovely Maia," said a child-like voice, gurgling a little as if the speaker has water in their mouth. "We love you," the child-like voice continues, confessing sincerely of their love to Maia.

Surprised, the trio turned around and finds their eyes staring at a beautiful boy. He is shorter than Maia a good 3 inch, and he has light blond hair that reaches to the back of his waist, reflecting light in the most enchanting way and appears almost white. He has a very aristocratic look, and the air surrounding smelled almost like sea breezes, calming and extremely soothing. The most captivating sight of the boy is his eyes; a beautiful blue twinkling and shining like a crystal.

Just like the spirit-whale's eyes.

"If you can't come with us, then we'll come to you," the boy said sincerely, hopping towards Maia joyfully and held her hand, eyes shining with a glint of hope in them. "We can, can we?"

If ever Maia is given a choice, she wouldn't ever say no to this beautiful little boy. But since the circumstances of an unknown boy asking permission from her to follow her, Maia couldn't help but to fell into the state of utter confusion. "Huh?"

The boy smiled brightly to her. "We are Yoi," the boy said, his smile almost made Maia faint with astonishment. "We are the King of the waters of Azumano-chou. We would like to stay with you, if the circumstances allowed us to."

Without waiting for a reply, the little boy kneeled down on one knee and held Maia's hand with both of his hands, his brilliant blue eyes staring right at Maia's warm brown ones. Satoshi barely caught himself before he launches an attack to the boy, jealousy surging through his soul.

"We pledge to you under the starry skies of the Waters of Azumano-chou," Yoi said solemnly, his head bowing down as he held Maia's hand in his. "We will be with you wherever you are and wherever you shall go. We will be by your side, we will willingly assist you, and we will willingly grant any wishes you shall ever have. We swore allegiance and total obedience to you under the starry skies of the Waters of Azumano-chou. May the reflected stars be our witnesses and guard our vows, strengthening the bonds as the time flows by the endless sea."

Astounded with what the little boy named Yoi offered, Maia stood there, frozen struck as she tried to take in the pledge that the boy had said to her. Standing beside her, Satoshi rolled his eyes dramatically, unable to hold in the contempt for the water King.

"Of all the creatures that could fall for you," Satoshi started, annoyed. "It had to be a King of the Waters of Azumano-chou. How the hell am I supposed to drive out the annoying thorn that is water!"

That outburst from Satoshi stunned Maia back from her reverie of beautiful underwater world with beautiful mermaids with strands of beautiful pearls entwined in their hair, swimming around her. When she realizes what Satoshi had said, Maia grinned widely.

"Can it be that you're jealous, Satoshi-sama?" she said cheekily, watching as a light red bloomed slowly across from Satoshi's fair visage.

"It's only your speculation, Maia. Don't think too much."

Daisuke tried unsuccessfully to inch out of the stadium. When his shoes made a sudden skidding noise on the tiles, Satoshi, Maia and Yoi all snapped their head around to look at him, who is frozen in an embarrassing posture of someone inching away from a private conversation.

"What are you doing, Niwa-kun?" Maia asked innocently, her voice echoed like a thunder around the stadium.

Daisuke, upon noticing everyone's eyes is directed at him, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, "I hear nothing, I see nothing. I'm just...well; I'll go home then if nothing dangerous is around."

He continued to inch out, and the moment his foot is out of the door, he picked up speed and ran all the way home.


	12. 12:Change of Season, Pledge of Love

**12-Change of Season, Pledge of Love **

One arm draped across his eyes, Satoshi sat by one of his favorite tree in Azumano High School, leaning his back against the old strong tree. Maple leaves with their beautiful warm brown came fluttering all around him. Their color serves as a constant reminder of Maia's beautiful brown eyes, his famed beauty of a girlfriend from across the sea. The thought of Maia running around the school and using him as a shield to hide from her many admires and talent agents brought a smile to his lips.

_**-Flashback to one week ago-**_

Maia sighed in relief as the thought that today is the last day of summer. Throughout the hot humid season, Maia had been annoyed constantly by many unknown admires that claim she is the queen of their dreams, and the sheer thought of it brought a shiver down Maia's spine. For this reason, Maia is unable to dress in her favorite sleeveless white cotton shirt and shorts for the fear of stalkers and admires hiding in bushes waiting to ambush her.

She had told Satoshi regarding one particular incident where she is nearly forced to kick an unknown man in his shin, where he had, in a situation, forced her to accept his bouquet of black dried roses and a box of old chocolate in a dark alleyway when she went back to her apartment without Satoshi. He remembered he was busy trying to bust Dark from stealing one of the Hikari's artwork that day and had told her to go home first. It would seem that his constant worrying on her safety proves to be true when the nagging feeling that Maia is in danger constantly flipped through his thoughts. Alarmed by such an occurrence happening to Maia, he had ordered his men to guard his apartment when he is not home and bust anyone who looks suspicious.

They had busted a total of nine men with the possession of a camera consisting many of Maia's pictures and a bouquet of funny flowers such as white lilies and chocolate cosmos.

Then, the next funny thing; When both Maia and Satoshi went out for a snack at the Bluebottle café, Maia had been approached by 4 talent agents who claimed that they had heard her talent for music from various rich customers of Pub Rose and that they are touched by the emotions she put into her songs. Maia, to Satoshi's surprise, totally ignored the babbling talent agent and enjoyed her Black Forest Chiffon Cake with fresh cherries heartily. Only when she had finished her cake did she notice the talent agent, standing there for more than 5 minutes.

Satoshi chuckled at the sight of the gaping talent agent, shocked by the sheer amount Maia scoff down her cakes, and to top it off Maia had rejected the talent agent's offer, saying that it's rude for someone to interrupt someone when that someone is enjoying a limited chiffon cake.

Bustling happily around the kitchen washing and preparing fruits and snacks for dinner, Maia hummed a random happy tune quietly. Suddenly, her hand phone sung one of her favorite dessert.

_Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango Daikazoku. Dango Dango Dan-_

"Hello," Maia chirped happily. "Akihiko Maia des~ Who's speaking on the line? And make it fast, I'm preparing dinner for someone I reaaaaaally adore!"

A light and familiar chuckle came from the speaker on the other side of the phone. "It's me, Maia," said Satoshi, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Upon hearing his voice, a smile immediately lit on Maia's face. "Sato-kun!" she exclaimed happily. "I was just about to call you! I'm making dinner right now, and I'm wondering if you have anything you want to eat that I could make?"

Smiling apologetically, Satoshi said to Maia softly, "I'm sorry Maia. I might not be on time for dinner this evening. I called in to tell you that."

He could practically imagined Maia on the other side of the phone, wearing a blue apron and ready to prepare his favorite dishes only to hear him telling her that he won't be on time for dinner. Her smiling face would fell heavily and eyebrows slanted in a sad and disappointed way. A stab of guilt hit him unexpectedly.

But instead, she chirped nonchalantly, "Oh, that's okay! I'll just prepare them and leave some for you in the fridge then!"

Eyes widened in surprise, Satoshi smiled appreciatively. She never ceases to amaze him in her ways. In a quiet voice, he murmured into the phone, "Thanks. I appreciate that."

Smiling, Maia continued to chirp. "Okay! Now that I have cabbage and watermelons-"

"Maia," said Satoshi all of a sudden, remembering to tell Maia something that is extremely important to him.

Holding a watermelon in mid air, Maia said into her phone, "Yes, Sato-kun?"

There was a long pause, as if Satoshi is pondering on whether to tell Maia or not. Gathering his courage, Satoshi said quietly, "Let's watch the season change together."

Another long pause, and this time it was from Maia herself.

She was utterly shocked. Never before had Satoshi proposed something for the both of them to do together that does not involve in eating or doing school homework. It was always her, and the thought of him asking her about something made her heart throbbed against her ribcage. She blushed shyly and happily. "Okay," she replied in a small voice, her infamous shyness clear in her voice. "I'll wait for you."

"Hn," was his only reply, and then the phone went off. (A/N: Come on, what would you imagine the poor iceberg of a pretty boy say? 'Okay'? Or was it an out-of-character 'Good'? *Sigh* another Gaara and Sasuke.)

Maia gently put down the telephone, a small smile on her lips. She had an intuition that this season changing event is going to be a good event.

* * *

Maia loved flowers. And as much as she claim that she hated everything that has anything to do with pink, she adored one particular flower that is bright pink in color; Stargazer Lilly.

It was not the only flower she had planted in both hers and Satoshi's garden. Her side of the garden were a combination of many bushes of red and white roses, which reminds her of the white rose corsage that she had taken upon to wear it as constantly as she could, and is extremely delighted when Satoshi told her that it will never get dirty or worn out by something he had done to it.

And then there was Satoshi's side of the garden. She had daringly thrown away the once white but now rotten pickup fences that separated her garden and his garden. Secretly, she had gratefully thanked her brother for choosing this place for her, for the apartment's garden is so vast and wide, and it's extremely near with the sea, a favorite color of hers to admire every single morning. Satoshi had almost grown livid with anger, but seeing her all dirty and standing with her ever so innocent eyes staring up at him in his garden, complete with gloves and a hat and mud on her face with the piles of rotten plank woods, he cannot help but to smile at her silliness.

But he did smack her on the head for doing it without his consent.

After planting the seeds and watching it grow for a few months, her hard work had paid her off well.

Stargazer's lilies were planted in a small group randomly around the vast garden; the white and red roses were planted in a skipping number to form a fence for the apartment, one white rose bush, and the next will be a red one, and the next would be a white one again.

And there's the blue and deep purple Irises that reminds her of both Satoshi's eyes and Dark's eyes, which she cringed upon remembrance; as far as she liked that color in his eyes, she finds that the flying playboy's presence rather odious to her liking. She planted the irises underneath the rose bushes, which combined beautifully when they matured and bloomed.

The scent of the Stargazer Lilies and the bushes of red and white roses she had planted carefully and lavished most of her love for plants on made her wanted to take another deep breath and settle forever in this heavenly scent, the color and lovely scent of those four colored flowers formed a very soothing image in her eyes.

Since she had known Satoshi would come back late in the evenings, she had taken it upon as her duty to clean his house and rid up all of the summer things and replaced it with wintry stuff. She intended to wait for Satoshi's return and surprise him with the little change that she is going to execute on his house for the coming autumn. The materials involved are all found around Satoshi's cupboard, covered in layers of dust. Luckily, Satoshi is a smart and sensible person, covering the materials that he doesn't need with a layer of plastic bag before stowing them away within available cupboards.

Not even one hour later, Maia had completed her mission. Satoshi's apartment is now sparkly clean with a warm self-heating electric carpet that is so white and fluffy that she squealed in delight upon finding it stuffed underneath one particular cupboard. It felt almost like fur, and there are also a few little designs of silver and golden stars all along the carpet's sides. Underneath the carpet is a non-slip rubber, so that when stepped it won't slip. She was so happy that the idea of cleaning up his house is becoming even more wonderful. (A/N: Her scheme to find some wintry stuff has turned into a treasure hunt for her…)

Most of Satoshi's wall-sized windows have been decorated by a few heavy blue and gold curtains that Maia had seen on the shelves of a nearby supermarket. She had fallen in love with it on first glance and immediately thought of Satoshi's almost-bare living room. It was the last one on the shelves. She even go as far as to argue with an old lady about the blue and gold curtain and refused to let her have them, saying loudly and shamelessly that she brought it, "For someone I love!" The old lady immediately stopped arguing with her, afraid of drawing a crowd. Maia brought it home victoriously.

After having a quick shower, Maia pulled on a black mini loose shorts and a crisp white buttoned oxford before going down and skipping around her house happily at the mere thought of accomplishing something wonderful for both Satoshi and herself.

Then she thought of the fluffy white carpet that she had put on the floor at Satoshi's part of the apartment. It looked so fluffy, and it looked so inviting that before long, she had found herself sitting on it, brushing its soft fur-like texture while looking at the door. She wanted so much to show what she had done to Satoshi, and she had wished that he'll be pleased with her accomplishment.

Lying down, she thought about what Satoshi's response would be like when he saw all the changes in his apartment. She thought about how he would smile, and she thought about how surprised he would be. How nice it would be if only he would allow her to go to the Police Department with his bento. She worried so much that the blue-eyed prodigy would starve.

"He's so skinny already!" said Maia to herself loudly; trying to ease the strange loneliness she had felt in this almost-infinite sized room apartment. "He should stuff himself silly like I did. It's not like he's gotten any meatier ever since I started to stuff him with food a few months ago."

In his office, Satoshi sneezed abruptly.

Maia continued to talk to herself for a few minutes, mostly about Satoshi, until she realized that the more she talked to herself, the lonelier she felt, and the more she wished she hadn't promised Satoshi that she won't go out alone just to see him.

Sometimes she felt so much like screaming at Satoshi for knowing so many of her habits and wishes.

Her eyes drooped slightly as the carpet begun to warm up, watching the Stargazer Lilies and the roses and the flowers dancing softly in the light breeze. It felt so nice and warm, and for a while, she wondered whether Satoshi has enough jackets to warm himself. The weather's getting cold as Autumn rounded around the corner, and the cold air does terrible things to people who inhaled the cold air too long without something to warm them. The lulling sound of breezes and the swaying Stargazer Lilies proves to her that sleeping is a very tempting option while waiting for Satoshi.

She closed her eyes to take a nap, telling herself that it would only be for a while. It would only be a while later before Satoshi would come home. By then, she could greet his return energetically, and they would watch the season change together.

_Just a while,_ she told herself, murmuring incomprehensible thoughts out loud. _It would only be for a while._

* * *

Maia woke up blearily in the early evenings, having only drifted off for a few hours at most. The warm self-heating fluffy carpet had made her so comfortable in its heat that she had dozed off without realizing the hours have passed her by without giving a glance at her. She pouted with her eyes closed.

Looking around, she noticed that there's a cool little breeze that made her hair blew slightly, and finally become aware of the open window and its shirtless occupant in its deep window ledge, seemingly a little lost to admiring all the changes that Maia had done to his back garden. He turned around when his senses detected movement through the side of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" asked Satoshi huskily, whose hair is a little windblown from the light cool breeze. His shirt jacket, as Maia notes, is covering her curled up self, and had slide down and pooled around her when she sat up. She smiled softly at Satoshi's sweet thought, but wondered to herself as to why he hadn't bothered to wear a shirt when he knew that the autumn's cold air is around.

But nonetheless, she answered him.

"No…" she had said, shaking her head a little. "I fell asleep just now. It's been a while since I've taken such good naps."

The thought of him waking her up is something worthy to be happy of, and to be able to see him right after she wakes up and opens her eyes would meant that she could get to see him longer in a day. Why he had wanted to apologize to her for such a reason is something that she, for the moment, cannot comprehend.

"Why aren't you wearing any shirt?" she blurted out, her voice a little hoarse from sleep. "It's starting to get cold."

Watching Maia went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, Satoshi provided her an explanation. "It's quite stuffy just now," he said, leaning his head back towards the side of the window and marveled at the sight of his garden. It was so beautiful in the light lights of twilight; like an ethereal meadow swaying back and forth right before his eyes. "I opened the window to let a little heat out. It's been a while, and I've cooled down."

Setting the glass down, Maia takes a deep breath and immediately felt a little refreshed. She still cannot believe she'd fallen asleep, and Satoshi is acting like he hasn't seen all the changes she had done. This is definitely not the reaction she wanted from him.

She opened her mouth to say something, but when she properly sets her very much awaken eyes on him, she closed her mouth slowly.

Strangely, Maia felt as if Satoshi is a little lonely tonight judging by the sheer way he's looking out the window; his eyes were staring off into the distant, and once in a while she would caught him sighing softly to himself, looking sorrowfully lonely. She suddenly have a strange urge to hug him, pat his hair and tell him that she's here with him; she suddenly have the strange urge to kiss him, to whisper to him that she is here for him, to tell him that she will be there whenever and wherever he wanted her to be. Her feet padded forward softly towards him, feeling drawn to him in a strange way.

She daringly climbed into his lap and settled herself with both of her legs straddling him. Wrapping her arms around Satoshi, Maia ignored his surprise and whispered into his ear quietly, "Welcome home, Sato-kun."

His mind delivered thousands of alerts telling him that she is straddling him and whispering in his ear. He finally registered her actions and smiled to himself, kissing the side of her head lovingly, allowing his lips to linger for a while.

_Sweet love, sweet love_

_Trapped in your love_

_I've opened up, unsure I can trust_

_My heart and I were buried in dust_

_Free me, free us_

"I'm home…" he whispered into her ear huskily, making Maia blush out of embarrassment at the sound of his husky tone. She finds them rather seductive and sexy in a way.

He loved it when she greets him as soon as he came in through that door of his part of the apartment. Every time she greeted him with a 'Welcome home, Sato-kun!' that sounded so innocent and sincere, it would automatically bring a smile to his lips. He felt warmth spread through him whenever she's there to welcome him back home.

Both of them stayed in that position for a while. Loving the warmth and the excellent smell that belonged solely to him, Maia burrowed her face deeper into the crook of his neck, unintentionally gave Satoshi a kiss on his neck which – well, let us just say that it turned him on.

He had years of practice to suppress something that he doesn't want anyone to see, mainly his various forms of expression that only Maia had ever seen in the forms of feelings plastered onto his face.

But if it is the form of physical arousal, it tends to be a problem; especially when a certain brunette is close to him on half-an inch of proximity.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Maia?" he whispered into her ear, which draws her attention almost immediately that she pulled back to arms length.

"Whatever made you think that?" she said, eyebrow rose quizzically.

Smirking, Satoshi replied huskily, "You're sitting on my legs without any shame. Feeling bolder tonight?"

_You're all I need when I'm holding you tight_

_If you walk away I will suffer tonight_

A tinge of red colored Maia's cheek when she felt something grew alarmingly hard between her legs, pressing against her inner thigh in a most inviting way, warming her insides as she started to feel hot. She wriggled in an uncomfortable way, biting her lips as she thought about how exactly she is going to move elsewhere.

He smiled at the sight of the adorably flushing Maia, entrapped within his embrace. Satoshi loved to tease her to the point of embarrassment. Leaning into her, he smiled softly as he came nose to nose with her, who had nowhere to look but straight into his eyes truthfully. He sensed that she is nervous, but he decided to continue his teasing until she tells him to stop.

He captured her lips in his softly in a slow kiss, sending sparks down the back of her spine and back up to her brain. It has been quite a while since he had kissed her on the lips. The last time she remembered is the time before the both of them left for the trip to Avice. A whirlwind struck her mind and send them spiraling in a frenzy of heat and want.

It was a wonderful kiss. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip, wanting to taste her and kiss her deeply until she is breathless. Instinctively, she opened her mouth and moaned when his tongue slide into her hot cavern and move smoothly with her, dancing and battling against each other in a passionate kiss.

His hand ran up to the back of her thigh, feeling her smooth skin shudder from his touch as he dug his finger into them, massaging them as he continued his little ministration on her leg. He used his free hand to run up and down the back of her spine, feeling her arching into him deliciously and forming a sensuous curl, her breast pressing into his hard chest.

_I found a man I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can you see that I'm bound in chains_

_I finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to you_

One of his hands slipped under her knee and brought it back up to wrap around his waist, where she instinctively tighten their hold there and held herself against him, loving the feel of his warm breath against her lips. Standing up, he walked away from the window ledge and gently placed her on the white fur carpet, her arm encircling his neck while the other continued to roam them on his smooth muscled chest. Everywhere she touched him, he felt alive, as if she had left a trail of hot fire in their wake, his inner lust surfacing rapidly. A spark igniting themselves within their bodies and started a passionate dance that no one could end before the other is satisfied.

One by one, clothing articles begun to litter the area outside of the white fur carpet, having served their purpose for the day and that now is the time for them to be _somewhere else. _

_So much, so young_

_I've faced on my own_

_Walls I built up became my home_

_I'm strong and I'm sure there's a fire in us_

_Sweet love, so pure_

As his mouth showered her creamy breast with kisses, his hands began to pleasure her body, open and bare to him and only to him. One hand moving up and down her shapely hips and sides, the other inched down and touched her intimately, growling a little as he felt her hold on his hair tighten as she moaned out in pleasure.

He slipped one long finger into her slowly and noticed her hands seemed to become more fervent in roaming all over his body, as if wanting to find something to grab onto. She ran her fingers on his scalp and created a delicious friction, making him groan audibly.

"Maia," he called her name as he slipped another finger into her. She arched her back in response and let out a moan. She quickly covered her mouth with the back of her hand and bite her fingers to contain her pleasure.

Satoshi kissed his way down intimately, leaving a trail of saliva and freshly made love bites in his wake. Finally reaching where he wanted, he held both of her thighs in place by his face and gave her a long, firm lick. The reaction is extremely satisfying as he watch her writhing in bliss, a view only he can watch and enjoy. His tongue began to do dance that send her spiraling mad with need, her head tossing around as she chanted his name over and over again.

When he finally slipped his tongue into her, she nearly sat up and screamed in delight were it not for his hand holding her down. She tasted sublime; sweet and musky in a mouth-watering way, leaving him wanting more of her as he inserted a finger back to her core while he sucked her bud deeply, coaxing her body to produce more of her delicious juice.

She felt a coil of some sort coiling tighter and tighter in her womb, wanting to reach something and yet she doesn't remember what it is. Her first drunken sex with Satoshi provides none of the information she needed to properly and completely reach the peak her body wanted so desperately to reach, and yet what Satoshi is doing to her is so invigorating in a way that part of her doesn't want him to stop.

It was when she nearly and almost reaches something that Satoshi stopped. Pulling himself back up, he kissed her deeply and heard her whimper delightfully when she tasted herself on his tongue. She grab a hold of his mop of blue hair and held him close with his other free arm, not feeling they're close enough even with the skin-to-skin contact. Satoshi held her tightly in his arms likewise, feeling the same way she is feeling right now.

_I catch my breath with just one beating heart_

_And I brace myself, please don't tear this apart_

"Are you sure you want this, Maia?" Satoshi panted, looking straight into her eyes as he caressed her face. He nearly growled with hunger as he noted that Maia's eyes are heavily clouded with lust as well.

She_ wanted _him, and that thought had a surge of pride gushing out of every pore of his body.

Her hand reached behind Satoshi's head and raked her fingers through the blue locks. "We've done this before, Sato-kun-"

Satoshi shakes his head and intercepted her. "But that was different from now. Before, it was only that my judgment and consciousness has been clouded heavily by lust-"

"What about now?" Maia asked, her expression beckoning him to break that control he had over his more promiscuously protruding organ. "Are you touching and kissing me purely out of lust, or purely out of your own heart and desire?"

He took the time to stare at her face; she is beautiful, more so when she is currently naked and flushing right underneath his body, pressing herself against him as he hesitated. He ran a finger across her forehead, across her cheek, and across her lips, knowing that he would very much die if he couldn't have her right here, right now.

_I found a man I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can't you see that I'm bound in chains_

_I finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to_

"No…" he murmured softly, his gaze softens as Maia stared from underneath him, awaiting his answers. "I want to touch you. I want to feel you against me, and I want to embrace you, remember every inch of you, kiss every inch of you and make love to you until I'm thoroughly satisfied."

"Then…" Maia looked up at him, softly whispering her reply as she flushed at his solemn answer. "Then don't stop."

His mouth descended down upon hers in one swift move, tongue slipping back into her welcoming mouth as his hand guided his swollen manhood to her core. As he started to push into her, she broke the kiss with a gasp and look up at him, one hand covering her face, shielding her expression from him.

Gently, he pulled off her hand and wove his fingers with her, holding her hand high up on her head. "I want to look at you," he said as he pushed in a little more, his hips brushed with her thigh. "Don't hide from me, Maia."

Comparing his and her hands, his sheer size seemed to dwarf hers a lot, which aroused an impression in him to want to protect her from anything that could cause detriment to her occasional inelegant self.

She cried out and panted wildly when he finally entered her with a thrust, hitting her core with a jolt of his hips. It's just so satisfying having him in her, stretching her fully and taking her in an intimate way. It was so blissful, so much that she wanted him to stop, and yet at the same time, she doesn't want him to stop.

Ever.

Satoshi gave Maia a long, passionate kiss, tongue entangled in a passionate dance. He slowly began to move his hips, little by little and pace by pace, picking up the speed as he heard her satisfying moans of excitement.

Maia's arm clutched onto his muscled arm, feeling her consciousness slowly dripping away as all of her awareness are focused on getting somewhere with their passionate dance. It is still something that she doesn't know, a feeling that kept pushing her inner coil harder and harder, coaxing her off the shore and up the Cliffside, her whole being dangerously placed on the edge where waves after waves of seawater splashed violently against the stony cliff. Getting desperate, Maia's moans turned into whimpers of shameless wants and lust.

"Satoshi…Satoshi…" she called, chanting his name over and over again. His thrust accelerated with more fervent and fiery, his blood boiled beneath his veins and arteries. He, too, could feel a coil coiling tighter and tighter on his lower region, telling him that he is close.

"Maia…" he whispered her name hotly by her ear. Gathering her up in his arms, he pulled her to sit on his lap and continued to thrust into her. "Maia…" he called again. "Maia, let go…"

Both of her arms circled Satoshi's neck, unable to control her moans of delight and had almost screamed in pleasure when he suddenly pulled her up to straddle his lap, their new position brought him closer to her.

"Sato…shi…" she panted. "Satoshi…there's some…thing in me…I don't know…what it is…Satoshi…"

Both arms leaving her hips, Satoshi gently pried her arms away from his neck and held her face in his warm palm, looking deep into her eyes. "I know…" he breathes heavily, his breath came in huffs and puffs as his coil twisted tighter. He's very close now. "I know, Maia. Just let go. You're almost there…"

At Satoshi's words, the feeling Maia had been feeling intensifies, coiling even tighter and bringing her to the edge of the Cliffside. "Satoshi…I'm…scared…"

He brushed her hair softly, noting that tears had started to fell out of her beautiful eyes. "It's fine…I'll be here, Maia…" he assures her, feeling himself come so close to the edge as well. "I'll be here…just let go…"

_Suddenly the moment's here_

_I embrace my fears_

_All that I have been carrying all these years_

_Do I risk it all_

_Come this far just to fall, fall_

And she came, hard and intense in his arms as she trembled violently, tears steadily streamed out of her eyes from the amount of pleasure she felt. Both screamed each other's name as they reach their peak of pleasure, holding each other closely and tightly.

_Oh, I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can you see that I'm bound in chains_

_And finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

"This is wonderful," Maia said softly, hands patting at Satoshi's sweat saturated hair. "This is…too wonderful to happen…"

Satoshi smiled serenely in Maia's embrace. He felt so warm and so satisfied with having her in his arms and her in his. "I know…I felt it too…"

_I am,_

_Ooh, I am_

_I'm bound to you_

That evening, they lay in each other's arms for a long time. Maia's long hair fanned out behind her back like dark wings as she laid her head atop of Satoshi's broad chest, loving every moment she had with her. Their eyes are fixated upon the peaceful surroundings of their homes. The sweet smelling scent of the combination of flowers swaying outside permeated the air around them, serving as a light air freshener.

Fearing that she would catch a cold from the changing weather's temperature, Satoshi had fished out a white cotton blanket. She had since then latched onto the blanket and had them wrapped around her naked torso with a blush.

"Maia?" Satoshi said tenderly, breaking the silence of the atmosphere. He couldn't seem to stop stroking her long locks of soft dark brown hair in a languid way. It just seems so wonderful to have her in his arms, so close and so safely sleeping on his chest, hearing her breath and sigh in bliss. It's just simply too good to be true.

Maia raised her head to look up at Satoshi. _God_, she thought to herself. _How can such a beautiful man not be worthy of all my firsts?_ For a while, she just stared at him and brushed off a stray strand of blue hair from his eyes, savoring the rare moment of tranquility. "Yes?"

He felt that this night, both of them had been trailing back on conversation. Pausing and moment of silent is frequently happening between the two of them. Not that he minded. He had plenty of time to observe her within these rare moments. "I love you."

As expected, Maia froze.

"A lot." He continued, appreciating the gradual blush that began to spread alarmingly fast across her fair visage, her eyes bulging out in surprise. "So, do you?"

Maia's mouth began to do a peculiar up and down jaw motion. It appears that she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it and closed them up again, and then opens, then close, then open again.

"I- I- I- I- I-…" Maia stuttered, unable to form coherent words from the shock of receiving Satoshi's declaration of love towards her. "I-I-I-I-I-I-…"

"Yes?" Satoshi said encouragingly, holding himself up on his elbows and coming almost nose-to-nose with Maia. "I? You?"

"I-I-I-I-I-…lo-lo-lo-lo-lo…." Maia continued to stutter. Her brows furrowed in complete concentration, as though it was an extremely backbreaking task to say it out loud. Giving up, Maia gave a great huff and said bravely in another word with similar meaning.

"Me too!" she said confidently, her smile scarily wide. It would prove to be a hilarious sight with her blushing were it not for her wide set of eyes fixated upon Satoshi's blue eyes.

"That's not the right word, Maia," Satoshi chided teasingly, brushing the back of his fingers on Maia's smooth cheeks. "But I won't force you to say it if you don't want to, because I already know you felt the same way with me."

Sitting up, he kissed her cheek softly and rests his jaw on top of Maia's head. She felt so remarkably small in his when he holds her and even more so if he was to wrap both of his arms around her torso. The thought of her being just so tiny and adorably miniature made him tighten his hold on her a little, squeezing her and sighing with delight.

When he looked up, the moon had started to rise up into the midnight sky. The sight of the silver sphere brought a thought into his mind. "Well then, if that's the case, here's what I'll do."

He stood up in all his naked glory and heard a loud flustered squeak from behind him. Naturally, he turned around.

"For God's sake, Satoshi, you're not wearing anything!" said Maia, scrambling to put something on for him to cover his bareness, turning a bright embarrassing red right in front of him. He chuckled at her timidity, thinking to himself that she looked so terribly adorable when she's all flustered up.

Somewhere between her flusters, she had managed to grab onto his pants and forced him to wear it while she herself had had to settle with using Satoshi's shirt jacket, thanks to Satoshi who had, in a moment of passion, threw all of her clothes far and away from the vicinity of their lovemaking nest. All of them, even her underwear, are all too far away for her to reach without her getting too far away from the safety of the blanket. She knew Satoshi is watching her every movement like a hawk, and being too self-conscious, she'd rather curled herself up into a ball of shyness than risk having him scrutinize her nakedness up and down.

Now that they are safely covered; Maia in his shirt jacket while Satoshi in his pants, Satoshi kneeled in front of the sitting Maia. Taking both of her delicate hands in his, he gaze upon Maia's fair visage and caught her eyes in his.

His eyes clear and unclouded by any other emotions, Satoshi said in a low voice, "Let the first autumn moonlight be our witness for the vows I am going to make. Let its silver stream of light be our guiding light and let the stars above be a constant reminder of what I am going to declare."

Maia noted the solemn expression on Satoshi's face; his voice clear and reverberating within the quiet household while he had a strange new air surrounding him. She somehow knew, he had made his decision and determined on something. Somehow, that made her nervous.

"Let the promises I could make and keep for you last for as long as I live. Let the sweetness of our memories last until we rest side by side forever. Let the love I could present for you to keep forever be an eternal pledge of mine and let the power of the Day of White be presented along with my vows."

Looking into her eyes deeply, Satoshi proposed. "Akihiko Maia, be my girlfriend."

Maia's eyes widened, her jaws dropping open.

"When we finished high school, be my fiancée. You can go to college and Universities and I will work since I have already been to Universities. And when you're tired of studying, quite college and be my bride. When you're tired of being newlyweds, be the mother of my children. Let my heart be yours to keep and let's be together forever."

To Maia, who had never been promised such an oath, Satoshi's vows appear to touch her soul and welcomed her into his embrace. He had given her a promise and a choice, both a proposal that she could accept or reject freely and willingly. He loves her to such an extent that he willingly gave his heart and his all to her for keepsake. A tear slipped from Maia's eyes when she processed what he had offered her.

"Satoshi…" she said with a trembling voice, too touched to say anything back to him but his name and smiled at him.

Satoshi merely smiled at her softly. Brushing her bangs away from her eyes, he kissed her closed eyelids softly, whispering her name in a loving tone. Kissing her wet cheeks next, he once again whispered her name lovingly. He kissed every part of her face and whispered her name over and over again as lovingly as he could, and then lastly, his lips hovered on hers for a moment and looked at her in the eyes.

"Because I love you, Akihiko Maia, I hereby pledge to you my body, my heart and my soul, for you to be my lover for eternity. Would you give me the honor of standing by your side until the end of time? " Satoshi asked her, smiling when Maia nodded her reply. Tilting her chin up, he sealed the promise with a passionate kiss, encasing her tightly in his embrace with his arms.

"I love you too, Satoshi…" Maia whispered in a low voice. "-so much that you just don't know how much I love you."

_**End of Flashback. Back to present time.**_

Satoshi smiled to himself at the memory. It was such a sweet thing to recall underneath his favorite tree. Everything just happens, with him being in the right place with the right time for once in his life. He felt he could just burst in happiness.

"Sato-kun!" Maia called from a distant away, pulling him back to reality.

"Maia," he called back to her, giving her a wave as he watched her slowly jog towards him with all her wintry wear. He found out that Maia hates the cold more than anything, and so she preferred heavy winter wears than simple cardigans. To her, those are not good enough to warm her.

"Are you done with your things?" Satoshi asked, standing up and brushing the dirt off his clothes.

Maia smiled up at him admiringly. Every once in a while, when Satoshi is not aware, Maia would take her time to admire him. How could she not when she has such a wonderful man as her boyfriend? "Yeah," she chirped. "I've finished everything earlier, so we can go home now."

Thinking that he would follow her, Maia skipped ahead of him and hummed a tune happily. She had watched the movie 'Tangled' and had taken a liking to a song in the movie called 'Healing Incantation'. She would often hum the tune to herself whenever she is alone or when she is with Satoshi.

When she didn't felt him, Maia turned around and saw that he still stands underneath his favorite tree. The leaves slowly floated down around him in an enchanting way, mesmerizing her completely.

However much she wanted to stay and watch him staring at her dotingly from a distance, the cold had proven to be a nuisance as she shivered slightly, wanting desperately to be near something warm. "Sato-kun?" she called invitingly, awaiting him unquestioningly closes to another tree.

He blinked a few times to coax himself from yet again jumping into a trance-like dream. Sometimes, Maia could be just so adoringly innocent that he couldn't help but to stop in whatever he is doing and just stare at her with a smile. "It's nothing," he assured her, shaking his head slightly from side to side. "I'm just thinking about something pleasant."

Walking towards her, he extended his hand to her and said, "Come, Maia. Let's go home."

Beaming broadly at him, Maia placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled into his warm embrace, laughing herself silly when he kissed the side of her temple. Her life up until now has been nothing but wonderful. She briefly wondered just how long she is going to be dreaming before she finally awakens. All her worries and thoughts flew out of the window when Satoshi kissed her lightly on the lips, not noticing that he is busily glaring off a few boys who had taken a fancy in Maia.

Everything is just so perfectly perfect, but just how far does this perfection lasts?

* * *

**A/N: Muahahaha! Lemon, lime, smoky scenes and huahahahaha! I love this chappie, but I don't know what say you? Huahahahaha! Maybe it looks a little bit OOC, but oh well, I've been keeping this chapter in my lappy for- what, 3 years? Wow! Almost, almost. So to compensate for the lack of ideas, I'll throw this chappie out first. Kay?**

**Don't forget to review! The more you review, the more inspiration and fire it gives me to write up faster updates! Thanks a lot!**


	13. 13: Disappear

**13-Disappear **

December came by as the weathered golden bronze leaves of maples swept across Azumano Chou, covering its entire region in romantic autumn, the season for love. It also explains rather well why girls were often found giggling hysterically like packs of hyenas all over the roads and parks, carrying parcels wrapped in bright pink adorned with silver and gold hearts. Their eyes would stare fixatedly at boys under their fake eyelashes and smiled shyly or giggling to themselves and their friends whenever the boys saw them.

On such seasons, most of the residents that are found giggling hysterically to themselves were adolescence with their raging hormones peaking during these time of the year, excusing a few good number of adults in their late 40s, who also having the "Banshee Syndrome" of the year whenever a good-looking young men passed by them.

Take note that the "Banshee Syndrome" is named by Maia herself.

Almost all of them walked in packs, shuffling and whispering to each other, pointing to random specific boys and giggled (Maia: "More like they screeched.") again to themselves. Strangely, these simple acts of lonely teenagers seeking a boy to date seemed to unnerve Maia greatly.

Every girls- no, _females_ on the road have their eyes fixated on one such person, their greedy little eyes following his every movement including hand gestures and the way he blink and the soft fluttering of his hair being ruffled fondly by a nice peaceful breeze. Not to mention the way he grinned at the fuming girl walking by his side. Oh, so _sexy_ and _hot_…and a tad bit inviting.

The mentioned person happens to be none other than the famed Hiwatari Satoshi a.k.a the Cool Ice Prince.

Girls swooned whenever he glanced at them, while Maia tried her best to glare off the girls staring at him.

The sole reason why Maia is gnashing her teeth cantankerously, her eyes flashed angrily to whichever girl that had caught her eyes and leaving them scampering away without another look at the grinning prodigy beside her is that girls other than herself were staring at Satoshi. She didn't like the idea of other girls feasting on the sight of a grinning Satoshi.

At the least, nobody has seen him truly smiled before. Well, except Maia herself.

Since Satoshi pledged himself to her on early autumn a week ago, Maia had been transformed into a possessive female bodyguard, biting her lips whenever there's too much girls giggling at once at Satoshi. She didn't like the idea of him looking at those girls who just smiled at him because of his good looks.

_God_, Maia thought in her head, throwing her hand into the air as yet another girl ran past Satoshi and turned back to giggle in a disgusting way before running towards their destination. _This can't be going on forever!_

And the fact that he smelled so good that she would go as far as to wish that she were sleeping with him every night and every day didn't help the situation much. She is positive that other girls smelled him as well, and had been attracted to him like bugs to the light bulb since then.

"It's just a belief," Satoshi had chuckled, an amused grin adorning his handsome features. "Ignore them and you'll be fine. Plus, you'll get plenty of snacks to feast on during such seasons."

"Oh, you're right! Why didn't I ignore them and let their funny thoughts about you running wild in their cramped little brain and let them hope that you'll ask one of them on a date which then proceeds towards a pathetic one night stand then?" Maia said sourly on their walk to Pub Rose, her steps quick and fast, almost breaking into a sprint.

It was near evening, and Satoshi decided to walk Maia to her working place. He had made a decision that it might be best if Maia is allowed to do whatever she likes, such as working as a part-time singer at the pub. It is not something that is considered dangerous or a low and degrading job, and it is almost impossible to quench her love for singing and dancing as he often caught her more than once twirling around to a beat or singing a chorus suddenly when it is too quiet.

In the short time span he is with her, he came to know that she does not like stillness or quiet atmosphere. She claims that too much silence made her feels anxious and that there is a strange ringing in her ear that seemed to vibrate into her brain, pounding on her eardrum and apparently made her uncomfortable. She didn't like that feeling at all. He loves her, and so he allows her to do everything to her heart's content. He loves her too much to deny her anything she wants.

And of course, Satoshi knew why Maia is angry, which is the sole reason why he grinned all the more wider and keeping up with her light sprint with ease. In fact, he liked to see her in such a rare display of emotions.

In other words, Maia is jealous, and he liked the idea of her getting jealous for him. His jaws and lips seemed to be in danger of splitting his face completely, and he couldn't resist a bark of laughter bubbling his way up his mouth as he suddenly pulled her smaller frame to him and crushed her in his embrace.

"Maia, love," he chuckled, calling her by her new pet name he had selected for her. "You can be so terribly adorable sometimes that I just couldn't help it."

"Geez, stop laughing, Sato-kun! It's not funny!" Maia said, trying in vain to defend her crumbling pride, slapping his back while he continued to shake and chuckle.

They stumbled into Pub Rose in a heap of giggles and laughter, turning the head of the lone occupant in the counter with a glass of Scotch in her hand.

"Dear Sweet Violet!" Wild Daisy exclaimed happily, her eyes twinkling at the sight of the happy couple. "-and Satoshi! It's been such a long time since I laid my eyes on your handsome features." One hand pinching and caressing Satoshi's face, Wild Daisy dropped her tone and spoke huskily, "I definitely miss these blue eyes. Do you suppose I could borrow him for one night, Maia dear?"

Satoshi smiled calmly. He walked towards one of the high bar chairs and sat nonchalantly with Maia pulled to his side, leaning towards him as she looked up at his taller frame. "I would do anything that Maia asks me too, but I won't, for the life of me, go back on my promise since I've sworn under the First Autumn Moonlight. Now that is one vow I couldn't and wouldn't break no matter what happens."

"First Autumn Moonlight?" Wild Daisy exclaimed in surprise, one hand placed on her heart dramatically. "Of all the vows you could take, you take one on the First Autumn Moonlight? You know you can't break a vow made on that night, Satoshi, and you, Sweet Violet dear?" She suddenly turned towards Maia and hold both of her shoulders together, shaking her slightly. "Did you agree to him?"

"I wanted it too, so I agree, yes," Maia said quietly, as if afraid that Wild Daisy would do anything unexpectedly harmful. But she only laughed out loudly, widening Maia's eyes.

"I never take you'd be the romantic type, Satoshi," Satoshi glared at her when she said that, but she appear to be immune to all her glares and continue chirping happily. "I know Violet-chan's the sentimental type, but you? Oh, this should be the headline news that you're sentimental as well! Haha! So young, and already been promised to each other…what a waste."

"Who knows, you could have gotten a better choice in the future, someone better than Satoshi perhaps? Aren't you acting a bit rash on decision makings here, Sweet Violet dear?"

"I have everything I want with him," Maia said softly, both hands holding onto one of Satoshi's hands as she rubbed her fingers all over his hand, finding the notion calming and helpful, bringing down her hot blush. "That's all I'll ever need in a relationship. I'm completely content."

Wild Daisy smiled. She had never seen such a powerful gaze before, and it touched her deeply that someone she just knew would never smile like that happens to smile at someone with such an expression. Satoshi's eyes are focused entirely on Maia, who noticed it and smiled back at him with a blindingly beautiful smile. Both of them are such a beautiful pair that it hurts her just to stand there and kept staring, but she knows, then and there, that love does exist.

"So!" Wild Daisy barked suddenly, clapping her hands together and creating a loud shocking noise, surprising Maia while Satoshi watched as she jumped adorably in shock. He had gotten used to Wild Daisy's ways of surprising people with her infamous clap of shock, and thus remained calm and rooted to his chair. "How many times did the both of you have sex? Come on, spill it!"

"Why would you need to know that? Don't tell me you've reverted back to your perverted nature…" Satoshi said as his words trailed off, remembering his days at the University where Daisy would always force him to watch porn with her. He couldn't believe he have sullied his eyes with porn at such a young innocent age.

"Come on!" Wild Daisy moaned as she tried to persuade them to tell her. "Just tell me! Numbers! One? Two? Which is it?"

"Er…" Maia started and regretted almost immediately when Daisy's head snapped towards her in a way that would have cracked her neck. Her stare were such a terrifying sight that Maia couldn't help but to stutter out a terrified "T-two…" at her.

"Two times!" Wild Daisy screeched in disgust. "What are you, impotent or you had a problem with your little brother ejaculating earlier than scheduled! Are you not manly enough to please all of her virgin life and fuck her thoroughly?"

Satoshi narrowed his eyes at the sound of her comment. He didn't like the way she said it, as it sounded as if he's someone lower than Maia's lover. "She meant two nights in my arms, Daisy. She didn't say how many times, and I did not fuck her thoroughly. I PLEASED her, and I make love to her as her lover," he said through gritted teeth, and then he thought about something mischievous and mumbled audibly. "-not that it is possible to count how many times I pleased her."

Wild Daisy's eyebrow shot through her forehead in surprise. She appeared impressed with him and grinned widely. "Oh, now I get why she had to excuse herself from work two days ago. Turns out that it's all your doing, Hiwatari Satoshi."

"The pleasure is all mines to please her," he said, bowing lightly. "She seemed to like it very much, judging by how hard she gripped my hair and all the nail scratch behind my bac-"

"Do you people _have_ to talk as if I'm not here!" Maia burst out suddenly from Satoshi's side; face flushed thoroughly with embarrassment and looked akin to a too ripe tomato. She was fuming and as she said her opinion out loud, directed at the gossiping two. "And Sato-kun," She pointed at him, who raised his eyebrow curiously, awaiting his verdict. "For all those vows sake! Stop spilling our intimate secrets to people that easily!"

"Sorry Daisy," Satoshi grinned widely as he lift up and kissed the back of Maia's hand. "My girlfriend's jealous. I have to stop spilling our secrets out now."

Wild Daisy laughed out loud at Satoshi's cheeky reply. Maia is tempted to stomp on her feet, but thought otherwise when she realize that she would have looked like an immature brat then.

When Maia no longer fumed with embarrassment, Satoshi stopped his unnecessary teasing and Wild Daisy with her infectious barking laugh, Wild Daisy stopped Satoshi from leaving and asked him a question that had his eyebrow raised in surprise.

"Satoshi," she said in a questioning tone. "How do you think about becoming our guest pianist for tonight since you're so good with instruments?"

That new info had Maia practically bounce with joy.

"Sato-kun?" Maia said in a nearly-screeching tone. "You're good with instruments?"

Satoshi studied Maia's wide set of eyes. He knew that look very well; it means that she had found something new about Satoshi and loved it completely. She waited patiently for him to continue. Finally, he cleared his throat in discomfort at having his secret spilled so early and said a little awkwardly. "I can play most of them-"

"This is so wonderful, Sato-kun!" Maia exclaimed happily, bouncing while holding onto his arms and flashed him that blindingly beautiful smile of hers. "You have to play for me sometimes! I never knew you know how to play!"

"That's wonderful then, Satoshi. Sweet Violet requested something from you, so you must play for her." Her face suddenly contorted into a display of utter sadness and pleading look that froze Satoshi up. Voice dropping low, Wild Daisy said slowly and softly, "You will play for her, won't you?"

Mouth pursed into a thin line, Satoshi glared at Wild Daisy. "I know that look…"

Face remaining passive, Wild Daisy continued to talk without moving an inch. "And I know you won't be able to stand another minute with me looking at you like this. So you'll agree with me in five-"

One hand whipped up to stop her, Satoshi closed his eyes tightly and retorted angrily, "Fine! Alright! I'll do it!"

"Yes!" Wild Daisy punched the air and hopped up happily in victory. "Satoshi broke the record by complying with my wishes in less than 34 seconds!"

Satoshi rolled his eyes in frustration and saw Maia's confused look.

"I'll tell you the story later at home." Satoshi whispered to her, smiling when she smiled at him in agreement.

* * *

Wild Daisy had taken the liberty to force Satoshi to wear a white oxford shirt in replacement of his casuals. She claimed that "It's not classic-looking enough!" and that it's not a good thing for him to tarnish the name of her pub with such a plain-looking outfit. Satoshi had appeared offended and reacted by snatching the white oxford roughly from her hands, angrily slamming the door to the changing room.

After he had finished changing and combed his hair back for a more formal look, Wild Daisy shoved him to the front and forced him to play a few songs until Maia finished with her attire and makeup's. Satoshi rolled his eyes at the many ground rules in Wild Daisy's pub, such as dressing in formal attire and wearing heels or belly shoes. He would have been more comfortable in his own oxford shirt rather than this brand-new, hard and crisp oxford.

Upon finishing his second song, a waiter gave him the signal that Maia is going on stage. The light dimmed instantly and the silhouette figure of Maia appeared, going onto the stage slowly and effortlessly, as if she could see perfectly well in the dark. Even Satoshi, who had a pair of almost perfect eyesight and a nocturnal vision couldn't see well enough right now. For a moment, his mind is clouded in slight wonderment at Maia's effortless at walking around the many instruments blocking her way on stage.

Until a pair of silk-gloved hands slide across his cheek sensually and, taking hold of his face in their hand, a soft pair of sweet lips that tasted of Maia descended upon his lips, kissing him slowly and sweetly.

His arms instinctively came up to wrap around her waist, but when he did, she broke the kiss and slipped away from his reach, giggling softly.

"Be patient," she whispered, and he could see vaguely that her finger is put up to her lips in a 'silence' manner. If he could see her under proper lights, she would have looked incredibly alluring and smiling seductively at him.

In a hushing manner, the drummer gave his cue to Satoshi for him to begin playing the song. Slow trumpet begun to sound in the now quiet pub and the lights slowly started to light up the stage, it's spotlight focused on the lone lady standing in the center of the stage.

Her small slim figure is wrapped up in beautiful silk the color of dark molten gold. It was a silk one shoulder dress, the flowing material rippled like molten river and flowed down to cover her feet completely. Stripes of dark olive green crisscrossed at her hips and ended in the middle, where additional ribbons of the dark olive green flowed together with her golden dress and ended where her knees were, little crystals dangling from the end of the ribbon and threw rainbows of lights everywhere whenever she moved.

Her wavy long hair and wrist are thoroughly decorated with long chains of crystals and intricately wrought crystal headpiece, its complicated design of floral vines and lotuses simply take one's breath away with just a mere glance. The color of her eyes seemed to shine under the limelight, sparkling beautifully along with her lavish attire and precious crystals.

Truly, the sight of her takes his breath away.

Taking a deep breath, she started with a sensuous pitch and sang.

_How long will this take?_

_How much can I go through?_

_My heart, my soul aches; I don't know what to do._

She looks so much more radiant under the spotlight; her crystal earrings and headpiece brought out more of her beauty and made her look like a goddess. He couldn't be bothered with the piano keys right now. He trusted his experience with the said instrument and continued to glide his fingers on top of the keys while his eyes casted an admiring gaze over to her, smiling slightly to himself when she looks over at him and smiled back at him.

_So beautiful_, he thought to himself.

_I bend but don't break, but somehow I'll get through,_

_Coz' I have you._

_And if I had to crawl, will you crawl too?_

_I stumble and I fall, carry me through,_

_The wonder of it all is you, _

_See me through._

Her voice sang loud and clear, but she remained calm and singing along smoothly, hitting the high notes with ease as she sing through the music. Once a while, she will glance over at Satoshi, but only for a moment before she directed her gaze to her high class audience.

_Oh Lord, where are you? Do not forget me here,_

_I cry in silence, can you not see my tears?_

_When all have left me and hope has disappeared,_

_You'll find me here._

_And if I had to crawl, will you crawl too?_

_I stumble and I fall, carry me through,_

_The wonder of it all is you, _

_See me through._

There is such a strange emotion in her voice when she sang, as if her song predicts future sadness and sorrow. There is such a sense of dread filling her tonight, but with Satoshi near her, her fear and nightmares faded and she returned to her happy self. Still, she couldn't help but to have that dreadful feeling; a feeling that foresees something worse than living that death would be her only option.

_When everything I was is lost, I have forgot but you have not,_

_When I am lost, you have not lost me…_

_When everything I was is lost, I have forgot but you have not,_

_When I am lost, you have not lost me…_

_You have not lost me…_

_And if I had to crawl, will you crawl too?_

_I stumble and I fall, carry me through,_

_The wonder of it all is you, _

_See me through._

As Satoshi played the notes for the ending of the song, Maia walked towards him and placed a hand over his shoulder gently, squeezing them slightly to alert him of her presence. He smiled and continued to play sensually, impressing her with his fluid movement as his fingers glided across the surface of the black and white keys, hitting the right notes at the right places.

It was a beautiful night when he first played at Pub Rose, and the night is clouded and cloaked with its dark beauty. The sky is completely pitch black, the stars and moon appeared nonexistent as the hour of darkness descended upon the couple quietly.

There was no warning. There is only complete silence as the figure in the shadow flipped his phone and dialed a number, awaiting the other side to pick up the phone. As the caller heard a quiet "Hello?" he gave out a wicked smile and said three words quietly that sealed Maia's fate that night.

"Commence the plan." With that, he snapped his phone shut and walked away quietly, exiting Pub Rose casually and slipped away, not knowing that Maia gave his way a glance when he finally disappeared outside Pub Rose, leaving her wondering to herself briefly about the ominous aura surrounding the man.

* * *

"How the hell did you get in here?" Satoshi said through gritted teeth as Dark grinned back at him impishly. Riku shakes her head disbelievingly at him and turned her attention to the couple, looking ever so beautiful in their charming outfits.

"It appears that Dark-san had begged Wild Daisy-san to let him in tonight. He said he wanted to see Maia with his own eyes."

"She's totally right, as she always was," Dark replied, sipping his glass of wine elegantly and settling the glass back onto the table quietly. "My little tamer had told me of Maia's ability to sing and here," he gestured towards Riku. "Little Riku told me that Maia had told her of a biiig secret, and that she had a part-time job involving her favorite art of performing, which is singing, as you had known waaaay back before all of us here did."

"Even so-" he started, but when a hand wrapped itself around his arm, squeezing it reassuringly, Maia intercepted him and defended both Dark and Riku.

"I invited them here, Sato-kun," Maia explained, smiling at Riku while forcing herself to give Dark a flash of teeth. "Niwa-kun and Riku is my guest tonight, but I didn't expect that Niwa-kun's too tired to come, so Dark had to settle as Riku's partner then."

Satoshi nodded slightly at her, wrapping a possessive arm around Maia's waist. "So it seems," he said coldly, glaring heatedly at Dark as he noticed the thief nodding his head stupidly as he surveyed Maia up and down.

"It's a shame that our little Commander here has already claimed you," Dark sigh melodramatically, head hung dejectedly as his eyebrow knotted together into a disappointed frown. "-or else I would've come up and carry you away into the night myself."

"Thank the Gods that I'm _allergic _to heights then," Maia replied in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes and brushing her curled bangs from her face with one finger. "It terrifies me to be in somewhere where I can see the ground _miles _away from above, let alone allowing someone to fly me away into the night like a bat out of cave. I'll do my nerves plenty of good to be able to sit in a small café enjoying tiramisu and melted chocolate cakes, sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea as I watch the news deliver a pleasant information that the Great Bat Dark has been captured."

By the time Maia finished yapping away in her snide remarks about Dark, Riku had to stop herself from laughing too loudly or risk getting thrown out of the pub. It was so refreshingly wonderful that not all girls fawn over Dark whenever he appeared. Both Dark and Daisuke were hers to keep, so it actually soothes her that Maia does not fancy him like her sister does.

Grinning proudly, Satoshi excused himself from the crowd and ordered something non-alcoholic to both Riku and Dark, not wanting Niwa Daisuke to come to school in a drunken state. Finishing ordering, he carried all the drinks on a silver platter and returned to their tables.

Only to see Maia had disappeared.

"Where's Maia?" Satoshi wondered aloud, looking around the pub to see if he can catch her sight.

Riku took her drink and sipped elegantly. "She returned to the backstage to change her attire to something lighter since Dark-san here-" Riku jabbed Dark's ribs in response. "-couldn't seem to stop with the comment on her simply 'wonderful waist size' and how _fetching _her gown and crystals had been."

"I didn't mean to say that out loud!" Dark defended himself as Satoshi's glare seemed to smoother him. "I meant to compliment her attire nicely, but Riku just wouldn't stop glaring and pinching my arm so she left to change."

"You bet she did," Satoshi replied coldly, picking up Dark's glass and slammed it noisily on his table. Dark gulped in response. "I know how flowery your _compliments _can be, so woman like her would be more likely to stay away from you and your lecherous eyes."

"Woman?" Dark repeated curiously. "Did I just hear you say she's a _woman_?"

Satoshi grinned evilly in response. "She is completely mine, so make sure to put up a safe distance with her."

Dark slapped a palm across his chest and gasped in extreme drama. "You've sullied the pure lady! You evil commande-"

"Dark!" Riku hissed menacingly, effectively silencing the thief with her ferocious glare. "One more time, and I'm gonna drag you home by your ear!"

They sat down and exchanged snide comments about each other, Riku shuts them up, and the whole thing repeated again for a few times before Satoshi begun to feel uncomfortable the Maia's absence.

Wild Daisy approached them with a wide smile on her face, patting Dark's shoulders and Riku's cheek adoringly before addressing Satoshi.

"Satoshi-kun, do you perhaps know where Violet-chan is?" she asked sweetly, and the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach deepens when he frowned in wonder, shaking his head in response.

"Then, have any of you seen Violet-chan?" Wild Daisy turned towards Dark and Riku, who both have identical curious looks on their faces.

Riku is the first person to voice out her curiosity. "Violet-chan?"

"That's Maia's stage name," Satoshi smiled frozenly, not feeling quite all right with the way Wild Daisy asked the question about Maia's whereabouts. "No, Daisy, I haven't seen her at all. I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Wild Daisy frowned in question. "That's strange," she said absentmindedly, more to herself than to the trio. "I thought she was with you guys."

"She did," Riku answered her. "At least, she stayed with us for a while. Why? Is there something wrong?"

"No," Wild Daisy's voice turned somber, her face turning alarmed and looked around the pub. "Something's not right. Violet-chan dropped one of her crystal earrings. I returned it to the changing room, thinking she's there and it turns out that she's not there either. Nobody has seen her after the show, except for the three of you."

"Have you tried the washroom?" Dark's voice came through cool and solemn, for once he is serious in helping someone. He could smell the scent of bad magic in the air, and it is not a pleasant smell.

_**Someone is doing some bad mojo tonight,**_ Dark thought to himself as an unpleasant feeling settled upon him.

"No," Wild Daisy sighed nervously to herself, eyes darting everywhere that Maia could very well possibly be in. "Not yet. I'm going to ask the other customers to see whether they've seen the star of the night anywhere in the pub. I seriously don't feel good about this."

Standing up quickly, Satoshi gave each of them a serious stare and said intently, "You guys search for her here. I'll go outside and see if there's any sign of her."

Without waiting for a reply, he stormed away from the group and left for the pub's back door. Taking note to avoid important grouchy customers, Satoshi finally made it to the door and pushed it open roughly, the cold air outside the warm pub freezes his breath in a matter of seconds.

"Maia?" Satoshi called out, his heart started to speed up for various reasons. "Maia?" he called out again, this time louder and carries a tinge of nervousness in them. He didn't bother to hide his frustrations, cursing loudly when he almost slipped on the slippery stairs. Anxiety settled on him like a heavy cloak as his eyes searched for any sign of the girl. _This can't be good, _he thought to himself nervously, as no matter what he thought of the reason; he couldn't help but to think that the Mafias had to do with her disappearance.

He searched all around the alleyway, regretting letting her go out of his sight. He should have accompanied her at all times since his guards are not here tonight. He pulled at his expensive white oxford roughly and popped a few buttons open, breathing heavily and harshly. It was then his sharp eyes caught sight of something in the dark and walked over to it. His face contorted into pure horror when he found out that it was Maia's white handkerchief, complete with her 'A.M' insignia at the corner of the small fabric.

"No…" he whispered to himself. His precious Maia, his beloved is gone. Maia is a sensitive woman. She would know if her handkerchief or other things slipped from her pocket. She would never allow such a thing to happen, especially not her handkerchief as it was a gift from her beloved brother. It came in sets, handmade from rare silks and expensive threads and it was one of a kind in the world. No handkerchief would look like hers.

Maia would never, ever venture into such alleys without him. He remembered vividly about how he warned her off such alleys the first night he saw her perform in Pub Rose. He had told her stories about girls and men getting raped and mobbed in such places, and she had reacted by begging him to allow her to stay the night in his apartment and in his bed. He couldn't have said no to her in the face when she looked as if she would have started crying.

Seeing her handkerchief here in such an out-of-place alley sank his heart and confirmed the news he never wanted to conclude that it was true, because if it was, then within the next 48 hours, Maia is doomed.

Maia has been taken by the Mafias.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if I took so long to update this story. Crisis befalls my nursing course and oh dear God, I just couldn't stand it when my college simply choose to ignore the student's plea and just go on ahead with their own plan of placing the students to practical places wherever they liked. It's so sad, and I don't think my batch would graduate with a very good reputation. They've ruined it.**

**So, like I said before I started to babble, this chapter took me longer than I have estimated to finish it. The next chapter is even harder, as things started to get serious and all matured-content spilling out. Couldn't wait to write it, but I have to arrange for a time to write it alone since doing it in front of my roomates and housemates just doesn't give me enough inspiration and ideas to do it comfortably. **

**Thank you for reading my story. Review and I might just consider speeding up my updates~ ^_^**


	14. 14: Desperate Measures For Help

**A/N: Hey Hey Hey! Hello folks! I know it's been a loooooong while since I last updated. I am terribly sorry about that. Life's been hard, and there's just some catastrophe that just can't stop itself from moving towards my direction. It's been hard, but I finally managed to wring out something from my blank mind. I hope this will satisfy all of you for the moment while I work hard on my next chappie, Okay? Thank you for staying with me and reviewing my story!**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

**14-Desperate Measures For Help**

As expected, Satoshi ran back to Pub Rose only to find Wild Daisy trying to get her last customer out of her pub, apologizing profusely for the inconvenience caused. Upon entering, Dark and Riku came up to him anxiously.

"Have you found her?" Riku asked worriedly, nearing tears as she twisted her handkerchief over and over again to try and calm herself down. When Satoshi quietly gave her a pained look, Riku's tears burst from their dam and she turned, burying her face into Dark's comforting neck.

"I'll take that as a no, yes?" Dark said tonelessly, patting Riku's back while giving Satoshi an understanding look. The blue-haired genius merely gave Dark the bitter look of distress and disappointment before reaching into his back pocket, fetching out a sleek and shiny Blackberry Torch.

(I tried to modernize this story from hereafter, so please excuse the flashy gadgets. ^_^ There might be a few new characters too…)

Sliding the phone to unlock it, he quickly dialed a series of numbers and waited for the other party to pick up their side of the phone. After what he thought was an eternity when it was just 3 rings, the call connected and in came a sleepy and husky-sounding "-ello?"

As much as Satoshi intended to sound formal, he couldn't help but to convey his feelings into the mouthpiece, sending a cold and grave tone to the receiver, "Kitsuo-san. It's me, Hiwatari."

The individual on the other side of the phone immediately woke up at the sound of his boss calling him. Satoshi was never one to bother others after working hours, but when he does, it was always for a valid reason, or if an intensely grave situation has occurred.

"Yes, sir?" Kitsuo said into the earphone, already up and about grabbing his shirt, his pants, his stockings and an extra sweater for the bitterly cold nights at Azumano-Chou. Due to the region situated in a place surrounded with plenty of seawater, the breezes late at night and the temperature could drop to an alarming degree of 4 degree Celsius by the stroke of midnight. No one would be stupid to walk out without a thick woolen sweater in the night. "Has something come up?"

"I'm afraid so, yes," Satoshi sighed exasperatedly, running his hand into his hair. "The girl that the Mafias have been targeting-"

"Akihiko Maia. Yes?" Kitsuo said, remembering the girl with the warm brown eyes photo in one of the files at the Police Department. She was a beautiful piece of work, and she was also famous around the department as Satoshi's significant other half. Everyone in the department loves her. "What of her? Is she safe?"

There was a pause. Kitsuo heard a muffled crying sound at the background, and when he strained to hear for more, Satoshi said suddenly in the coldest tone that Kitsuo had ever heard, "No, she's not." Kitsuo's heart dropped. He shuddered to even think about his boss's current facial expression. It would have freeze hell 3 times all over. "She's taken. She's no longer safe. Bring out the whole team. I want her found by dawn."

* * *

As Maia excused herself from the table to change into something that doesn't reveal more than the dress suggested, Maia bumped into a tall lean man as he exited the pub hurriedly. The man have a long light blonde ponytail and sparkling beautiful dark blue eyes, instantly reminding her of Yoi. His facial features are darkened by the dim lights of pub rose, and she couldn't see the man's face properly.

Before she could say anything, the man had disappeared outside of Pub Rose, his expression hidden underneath the hood that he had pulled up as soon as he is outside of the pub. Looking into one direction, the man quickly started to walk briskly towards that area and disappeared as the door closes the outside world from her curious eyes.

"Yoi…?" she said softly to herself, cocking her head slightly to the side. It couldn't be, she thought to herself. As far as she knows, Yoi is 3 inch shorter than she is, and his hair is longer and more beautiful, reflecting light in an almost impossible way. Plus, Yoi's eyes are a shade of beautiful light marine-colored eyes, not dark blue.

Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, Maia proceeded to sway out of the way of waiter and servers and headed straight for the changing room, passing by the back door in her direction.

The back door creaks open silently and ever so innocently and a man in his mid 30-ies entered the pub casually, his white suit a stark contrast against the dim-lighted ambiance inside Pub Rose. Tilting his bow hat at Maia and blocking her way, the man wrapped one of his arms around Maia's waist and glided out of the back door, all the while maintaining the wide set of smile on his face, guiding her out of the door fluidly without stirring up any suspicions or commotions.

Maia, on the other hand, felt a sudden wave of ill-omened energy radiating from the very man who had her in his arm. She had no idea why her legs would allow her to follow the men easily out of the back door, but it felt as if she's under some sort of obeying spells. She frowned when she saw a dark tinted car waiting at the end of the alley, all sorts of thoughts racing through her mind. The only thing that had her still and quiet is her consciousness telling her to _"do not panic"_ and run, because if she did, she would have suffered greater damage and her friends and Satoshi would die.

_Wait, _she thought to herself. Time seemed to slow down whenever she started to think to herself for some of the illogical things that had a habit to pop into her life when she least expected it to. _How did I know that I'm going to get tortured and raped if I opted to get panic and run? How did I know Satoshi is going to die and Dark and Riku would get shot if I resisted right now? How?_

When she thought about it logically, none of her instincts could be explained. It would just pop in her mind and instructed her to do and what not to do in such situations, especially when dangerous situations such as this surfaced. She thought about a premonition ability, which she had never had in life, so it couldn't possibly be something that she possesses. If it is about the power of deduction, it couldn't possibly be that too since the voice in her mind sounded as if she herself had thought about it. It is as if suggestions came to her when she is in danger.

Trusting her instinct which had saved her for a few occasions, Maia remained calm and cool, watching as the back door of Pub Rose closes slowly. Her one way back into Satoshi's arms are gone, but still, she trusted her instinct.

Halfway through the car, the man slapped a white handkerchief onto her nose and mouth and grinned widely when Maia obediently takes a deep breath from the expensive handkerchief, slipping into darkness and slide right into his arms. Caressing her face with the back of his hand, the man muse to himself in a victorious tone, "I've finally got you, lovely Akihiko Maia."

Easily carrying her in his arms, the head of the Mafia gang in Azumano-Chou walked quickly to his car and slipped inside with her, instructing the driver to start the car and go back to their base while he started to admire the lovely lady slumbering deeply in his arms, running his hands all over Maia's slim body.

"Such a beautiful lady, and such a sexy built of breast and hips," the man talked to himself, smiling as he slipped one of Maia's dress strap and running his hand across her shoulders, sighing at the smoothness of her unmarred skin. "A rare jewel indeed; undeniably, she would do very well. Sexual Intercourse would be 10 times wonderful with her kind of body. All mine now, Surpreme Commander Hiwatari Satoshi. She's all mine now."

Laughing throatily, the black car speeds down the alley and disappeared into the night.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Waking up to some unpleasant sound of men chuckling to themselves, Maia opened her eyes to some blindingly bright light bulbs and more chuckles. God. How she hated those sound of chuckles. So disgusting. Just as her eyes recovered from the momentary blindness, Maia's eyes begun to take in her new and strange surroundings, which gave of a pretty unpleasant vibe around it and make her feel uncomfortable.

"What the-" she mumbled to herself, sitting up and realize that she is still in her dark molten gold garb, and when her hand reaches for her hair, she is surprised to find that the crystals that has been woven into her hair are still in place. Then a sudden wave of dizziness came over her, leaving her to clutch onto her head to steady herself.

"Finally awaken, are we?" said a smooth masculine voice from behind her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that there is a glass of wine settled on top of a small round table that she is sure has not been there earlier. "Well, my Sleeping Beauty. Drink up. Won't want to have you dehydrated now, won't we?"

"Where am I?" she said, taking the wine glass instinctively and gulped it down in less than 5 seconds, not realizing that her actions actually impressed her captor. She had not wanted to drink from the suspicious wine glass, but her instinct told her that it is fine and clear of all poisons and sorts, and she quenched the roaring instincts within that told her she is in need of liquid and that she is dehydrated by complying with its wishes. Settling the wine glass back down onto the table clumsily, Maia summoned her strength and asked the man currently admiring her while sitting down cross-legged on an expensive looking lush white cushion. "What am I doing here?"

The man flashed to her his most charming smile and casually took a small sip from his own glass wine. "I am Kent. I am the owner of this place, and I've retrieved you, little beauty. You've been on my mind since the first day I saw you at Azumano-Chou's airport. You're the first choice in our list, but due to the fact that little boy commander is constantly by your side and you're always under his watchful eyes, we couldn't get you sooner to be with us. It's alright now, you'll be safe here."

Just then, a loud wail of distress echoed from behind her. Turning around, Maia surveyed her surroundings once again and realizes that this place looked like a steel warehouse. There was a small door open on the right side corner of the warehouse, and she, despite her shivering after hearing another loud wail of distress and the voice of a few men laughing and groaning, Maia braved herself to walk towards the door and peered inside.

She saw a woman- No. Not just a woman. There were 3 young girls, barely past 17, and already there are 3-5 men surrounding each of them. All of the occupants in the room are naked. The men are obviously enjoying themselves, sticking themselves deep inside the girls from all positively disgusting angles. All of the girls have 2 men wrapped tightly in between their legs; bottom and top, while their hands and mouth are full of what she realizes were the men's sexual organs. Everything she saw stunned her to the point that tears fell from her eyes without warning, finding herself suddenly shivering to an extent that she can no longer stand still.

"No! No…! Harder…please…no more…I can't take it anymore…! It hurts…please…faster…faster…! Fuck me, please! Fuck me, master! Fuck me to death!"

"I'll fuck you to death, Chinatsu-chan. Your ass is so wonderful."

"I'll give you an orgasm you've definitely never have before, considering your virginity is taken by me. Haha!"

"Yes! Yes! Fuck me! Right there! Don't stop! Yes! To death, master! Fuck me to death! Fuck me forever!"

Collapsing onto the floor, Maia found herself in a situation wherein she is unable to watch the scene any further and just buried her face in her hands, sobbing openly in fear, in disgust and in pity of the lives of 3 young girls being ruined under the hands of these animals as her white rose corsage gleamed protectively on her wrist.

Not to mention the stench; the smell of all those men and their distorted way of nature is just so overpowering that it couldn't be compared with the worst rotten smell she have ever smelled in her life. It was one that had a vomit-inducing effect on people, and she couldn't believe her eyes when the strange purple snakes coiling around the men's neck slithered towards the girls, splitting into half and latched themselves at the girl's neck. The sight of them was pure horror for Maia.

It was akin to one turning an innocent, untainted girl into one of their own.

"Don't worry, Maia-chan," said the wine-drinking man, his masculine voice whispering and breathing hot breath into her ear. "You won't be like them. I must admit, they have terrible masters to teach them in the art of sexual intercourse, but since some men preferred their woman more 'flexible', I have no choice but to let these savage beasts teach them. Rest assured, my dear, you'll be safe with me."

Lifting her face from her hand, Maia glared at the man with her tear-stained face and practically screamed into his face. "Safe? _Safe my ass_! This is the fucking whore factory isn't it!"

Some of the men in the room turned their heads to look at who had screamed such obscenities. They resumed their activities and left Maia alone when their boss, the wine-drinking gentlemen gave them a knowing glance. Turning his attention back at Maia, the man said to Maia in a gentle tone, "Now, now, that's not a language that a lady like you ought to say. We train all of you to be high class entertainers. With your looks here, you'll be famous in minutes! Be glad about it, will you, my dear?"

Straightening his back, the man gazed across the room and explained, and his eyes stared at all of them with a disgusted look, as if they're no more than maggots and worms in his eyes. "All the high class entertainers are personally trained by me. The rest of the girls are not so fortunate though…such as these three. They're not as pretty as they are without makeups, then a common whore they shall be, as you so rudely put it earlier, darling."

* * *

Dozens and dozens more calls poured in the Azumano Police Department, particularly the room belonging to the Supreme Commander of Azumano Police Department. Kitsuo had rang a call to all of the officers on duty that night and that they are to surround and search every streets for any sign of the girl named Akihiko Maia, because according to their Supreme Commander, the kidnapper could never and absolutely must be halted before they get out of Azumano-Chou region. In other words, the police department is to stop them from getting out of the region and instead retain them within the compound and area that allows them to be busted.

Satoshi gave a call to Maia's family and waited for her brother to pick up his phone. He drummed his fingers on the table and momentarily got into a stupor as he stared at Maia's ill begotten picture. She was so carefree and beautiful in it, and yet he couldn't protect that one single thing about her. He regretted leaving her side that night, and he regretted still that he had listened to her request that morning despite having protested to it.

It had been that same morning when Satoshi went out for a walk with Maia. He had seen her eying the dark blue irises with such longing that he chuckled and went straight to the flower shop, picking out a few stalks here and there while Maia smiled widely at him.

She noticed that there are a few people following them around, and that they are dressed as normal civilians. She knew they are the bodyguards that Satoshi had assigned for her, and for a moment she thought about how silly it was for 5 grown men to be protecting one small girl.

"Sato-kun," Maia called, acquiring his undivided attention when he snapped his blue eyes away from all the stalks of flowers. There, she stared at him for quite some time when she suddenly sighed and said softly with a smile, "Sometimes you really make me jealous by being so beautiful, Sato-kun…"

He blinked his eyes before giving her a wide grin. Leaning in quickly to land a kiss on her forehead, Satoshi whispered to her so that others won't be able to hear it, "And the same thing goes for you, love. You can be so terribly adorable that you appear almost _delectable_ to me, making me want to tie you down to bed and have you all to myself for the entire day."

He could practically feel all the heat emanating from her very being when she flushed from everything he had said. He smiled triumphantly and handed her the irises, having paid for them while picking them out.

"Can I just ask you to release the bodyguards? Just one day?"

Satoshi blinked. "And why is that?"

"Well, first, it's a holiday," she said, holding one of her finger up to count. "-and second, it's a boring job having them set on watch while you walked around with me, da-dating." Maia flushed a little when she said the last part, still not quite used to the idea that both of them now belonged to each other.

Smiling slightly, Satoshi crouched slightly so that he came nose to nose with her. Their height difference had somehow pleased Satoshi in a way. He loved to be able to tease her with his height. As per usual, she flushed. He liked to play this game with her. "Then what if you're kidnapped right in front of my eyes after I dismissed them?"

Maia's eyes kept darting away from his, but she answered anyway, "If worse came to that, I'll stay alive for you to save me."

"And what makes you think that you'll be alive by the time I reached you?"

"My instincts!" she said confidently, light sparkled in her eyes. "They'll keep me alive long enough for you to find me."

Chuckling, Satoshi repeated, "Your instincts?"

Maia nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "My instincts have been getting really, really good lately. I mean, well, when I'm about to encounter a disaster like dropping a glass from the kitchen counter, something in my mind would scream for me to place the glass in a safer zone. It's as if that voice in my head is my life instinct. I'm sure it'll keep me alive."

That was when he agreed with her nonchalantly, thinking that without the bodyguards, he'll be there to protect her in their place. That explains the nagging feeling behind the back of his head when he watches the bodyguards that he had personally picked out and assigned to watch over her walked away. It had been an impending doom since then, and that feeling he felt on stage when Maia sang her song. Those have been the last signals for him to heed, but he choose to ignore them still. He slapped one hand to his forehead and let it slide down to his spectacles, wrenching them away from his eyes angrily.

Just then, the call connected.

"Hello?" A deep voice greeted him. As expected from one of Maia's description about her beloved brother, Akihiko Kira is definitely a no-nonsense man judging by the sound of his voice. There's just so much authority in there that he couldn't help but to sit up straighter unconsciously at the sound of it.

Bracing himself, Satoshi prepared for the worst.

"Konbawa," Satoshi replied back politely. "I presume this is Akihiko Kira, Akihiko Maia's brother?"

He could practically feel the person on the other side of the phone tensed. The next thing he knew, Maia's brother's voice and tone took a change and he said anxiously, "Who is this? What happened? Did something happen to my sister?"

Taking a deep breath, Satoshi said gravely into the mouthpiece. "I am Hiwatari Satoshi, Supreme Commander of the Azumano Police Department. I am sorry to disturb you this late of a time, but I'm afraid that there had been a misfortune. Akihiko Maia has been kidnapped by the Mafias this late evening and we are now trying to locate her to the best of our abilities."

Satoshi thanked the Gods that Maia's brother is not the ranting type. He had enough troubles to be dealing with a screaming frantic brother, not to mention an incoming migraine that had started to brew troubles in his brain brought nothing but stressed the young commander further still. Upon hearing Satoshi's explanation and delivering the unfortunate event, Akihiko Kira said gravely, "I understand. I will inform my families and we will be coming over by dawn. Is that all?"

"That would be all, sir." Satoshi said politely, marking the end of the conversation. Akihiko Kira said his farewell and hung up.

Heaving a sigh, Satoshi leaned back into his seat covered his eyes with his arm, trying hard to ease the migraine back into his head by rubbing his forehead. Tonight is definitely not his lucky night.

Just then, a knock sounded on his door. Without lifting his head or opening his eyes, he uttered a decent, "Come in." and continued to sigh, thinking of all the possibilities and ways that would lead him to her.

"Have you found her?" he said silently, finally lifting his eyelids and focused them on the man standing straight and solemn in front of his desk.

"Sir!" the man saluted Satoshi and continued. "We've dispatched all the teams we could, and still there's no sign of the missing girl." When Satoshi gave no comment and just closes his eyes in disappointment, the officer clicked his boots together with his boots smartly and said, "I'm sorry for our incompetence, Supreme Commander."

Waving one hand, Satoshi said to the officer. "You're dismissed."

The officer gave Satoshi a low bow and exited his room, leaving Satoshi to his own thoughts as he stared at the scenery outside his office's window.

All of a sudden, a thought kicked in from nowhere, as if it had been there all along. When he looked at the moon, he thought about Qualia, and when he thought about Qualia, he thought about Argentine, and when he thought about Argentine, he thought about the Niwa family having a Guide of Eternity living with them as a maid right at this moment.

_That's it,_ he thought to himself inwardly, picking up his coat and strode out of his office with a slam of his office's door, ignoring the looks that he'd generated from the people working overtime at the department. _That's it! The Guide of Eternity! _He continued to think inwardly. _Why didn't I realize it earlier?_

"Sir?" both Inspector Saehara and Vice Supreme Commander Kitsuo addresses as Satoshi passed by them in a breeze, sending a few sheets of paper floating to the tiled floor.

"I'm going somewhere," Satoshi said, walking straight on ahead towards the exit, his eyes shined with renewed vigor. "Keep the searching on and don't stop. Inform me if there is anything strange discovered."

Saluting the young commander, Inspector Saehara and Vice Supreme Commander Kitsuo cried out a loud, "Yes, sir!"

* * *

Daisuke attacked the remote the moment he got home after sending Riku safely back to her manor. She had begged him to let her stay with him, but he told her that it was dangerous for her to be with him now. He didn't feel right after Dark proclaimed that somebody used bad magic, as the after effect of a magic user is heavy in the pub. Riku stayed put since then.

_**There was two charms used, **_Dark said from within Daisuke, his frown getting deeper when after possibly 6 local news channel and 4 international news channel later, there was not a single information reported on the news screen about the abduction of Akihiko Maia. Daisuke felt guilt gnawing onto Dark's subconscious soul._** One's a Summoning Charm**_**, _while the others an Obeying Spell,_** _**It stinks up whenever it is used on a human. Magical or not, as long as the object you summoned is a human, the spell would gave off an unpleasant smell that alerts the other magical users. It's something forbidden in the magical world, and if caught using it even once would put you in a super deep shit hole, human or magical users alike. You'll never see daylight afterwards. **_

_Dark-san_, Daisuke started, his fingers continued to try the entire news channel on the TV. _It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself._

_**But it was!**_ Dark exclaimed from within Daisuke, throwing his arms up in frustrations. _**It was, and I would never forgive myself for it…**_

_Dark-san,_ Daisuke begun, but he didn't manage to finish what he wanted to say when the doorbell to his house rang and interrupted his thoughts.

"Who could it be at this late of an hour?" Daisuke's mother, Emiko, said to no one in peculiar, her eyebrows knitted together while trying to think of anyone who could visit the Niwa household at this late hour.

When she looked into the peep eye hole, she squeaked when Satoshi's very blue eyes flashed at her, as if knowing he is being watched through the door's peeping eye hole.

"I know it's late and that I, as the descendant of the House of Hikari is not at all welcomed in the House of Niwa," said Satoshi gravely, staring steadily into the peep eye hole. "-but I came in peace and I am in a desperate situation where I need your help, especially the artworks that Dark have stolen all these whiles, so open this door up, Mrs. Niwa."

The moment Daisuke heard the young Supreme Commander's voice, his ears perked up and his back straightened, checking to see if he had heard Satoshi's voice in his imagination as he had been waiting the rest of the night for a respond or a call from him. Before Dark could even assure him that he hadn't heard it wrongly and that the real Satoshi stood just outside his porch, Daisuke's father had surprisingly rushed out of nowhere, pulled his stunned wife aside gently and opened the door with a welcoming smile on his face, as if he had been expecting his arrival.

"Hello, Hiwatari-kun," Kosuke said in a calm voice while opening the door wider for Satoshi to step through the door, smiling widely at the young man who gave a light nod politely at Daisuke's father. "Come on in. It's cold outside. My son's inside waiting for you."

"Hiwatari-kun!" Daisuke exclaimed in surprise, very much confirmed with the appearance of his friend at his house and jumped up in surprise. It's not every day that a Hikari descendant visits the Niwa household without a valid reason, except that one time when he fainted a few years back and Daisuke had brought him back home for rest, dinner and an overnight stay. "Is there any news? Is she found? Is there any calls or something? Anything?"

Marching into the household as if he belonged there, Satoshi sat down on the sofa and heaved an exhausted sigh; the blue-haired genius rested his forehead in his hands and answered Daisuke without looking up.

"There's absolutely no news. It's all quiet, as if she just disappeared. Then there was a note delivered just recently on my way here to your house…"

"What does it said?" Daisuke asked, not conscious of the fact that his family had begun to gather around and listen.

Satoshi removed a small white card from his breast pocket grimly and gave it to Daisuke, who reached out for it and scanned the card while Satoshi's hands clenched in a tight fist at the thought of the card delivered to the police station after his depart from it. It was as if they – the mafias who took Maia – are watching him from somewhere he can't see them. On the white card was a plain message written in an elaborated handwriting.

_**You will never see her again. **_

_**Ever.  
**_

_** Kent**_

"Kent?" Emiko read out aloud. "Who's that?"

"My guess is that Kent is the one who is involved in the Azumano-Chou's Mafias, possibly the boss," Daisuke offered his opinion, placing the card on the coffee table. "But I heard from Maia-san once that her uncle's name is Kent…?"

Satoshi smirked to himself. "They're two different Kent. I've also informed Maia's brother about the arrival of the card and the name written in it. He told me that his uncle is coming to settle the Mafias problem here. They're on their way right at this moment as we speak, and Niwa-"Satoshi said suddenly, his head snapping up to meet Daisuke's eyes with a renewed vigor and ignoring the other Niwas who turned to look at him reflexively at the sound of their family name. "I need to borrow the Guide of Eternity from you. It'll be just for a moment."

"O-of course!" Daisuke stuttered out a reply. "Anything here would be of service to you if that could help locate Maia-san's location!"

When he turned around to find the now butler of the Niwa household, Argentine, he is surprised to find that everyone; his grandpa, his parents, Towa and Argentine had all but gathered in the living room, their face intent from listening to snippets of their stories.

"A friend of Dai-chan is a friend of ours, right father?" Niwa's mother, Emiko hooted, her eyes burning with an eerie energy for a Niwa who previously stalks Satoshi in her own home and also actively advised Daisuke of the importance to distance himself as a Niwa from a Hikari descendant. Standing beside her, Daisuke's grandfather nodded his head in agreement.

"Though you have released me from servitude, I would gladly be of service to you again, Master Hikari," Towa said to Satoshi, one hand crossing over her chest while she bowed to him in respect.

"I would be grateful for that," Satoshi replied, standing up and moving towards Towa. He placed one hand over Towa's forehead and closes his eyes as a faint light glow emanated from his hand.

"Tell me the location of Akihiko Maia's white rose corsage."

Towa closes her eyes and releases her magical powers, stretching it far and wide across Azumano-chou as she searched for the said item telepathically.

"Why a corsage?" asked Argentine. The almost-emotionless incomplete artwork refused to be left out of the conversation and the gathering, his large pastel green eyes wide with innocent curiosity. "Why not just 'Akihiko Maia'? Why choose something that belongs to her?"

"Because that is the one thing that she will never be apart from no matter what happened," Satoshi explained patiently despite his anxiousness regarding Maia's whereabouts, placing a hand over Argentine's mop of light pastel green hair. He knew that the artwork is merely curious about life, and just wanted to be a part of it instead of standing by like normal artwork does. "I made that for her, and I've also imbued a little of my magic into that corsage to protect her and notify me if things were to get worse in her situation. Right now, I felt that she is handling the situation quite well, and is safe for the moment. Besides, the Guide can't track a human. It's a forbidden magic. Using it could get everyone into permanent trouble."

Cocking his head to one side, Argentine voiced out his thoughts, "Does that also mean Akihiko Maia is safe with the white rose corsage, and that finding the corsage is equivalent to finding her location?"

For once, Satoshi smiled through his anxiousness, feeling glad that Argentine is finally living his life the way a free live artwork ought to. Patting Argentine's head, Satoshi nodded in agreement. "Good guessing, Argentine. That's what I thought."

"Found it!" the Guide of Eternity exclaimed, her open eyes white and glowing. "I've found the white rose corsage. It is safely wrapped within the hands of Akihiko Maia."

"Tell me the place, Guide!" Satoshi said, his voice rising due to his anxiousness. Getting up from his seat, Satoshi grabbed the Guide and shakes her in hopes of getting more information out of her about Maia's whereabouts. "Where is the exact place that she is being confined in! Was there anything around that you could see as a clue to her whereabouts?"

"Hiwatari-kun, calm down," Kosuke said calmly, sensing that the tension has gotten the better of the young Supreme Commander. Grabbing the young Hikari's shoulders, Kosuke tries his best to talk Satoshi out. "I understand how you feel, Hiwatari-kun. Losing the person you love to some kidnappers would have set me on edge too. But you have to know that keeping cool and calm would have done you better and give you improved concentration in finding ways to get her back. You'll think better with a calm mind. Trust me…"

"Why can't she sense her?" Satoshi said almost anguishly, clutching his chest where his heart is supposed to be. "She's the Guide of Eternity. She can find anything – Anything! Why not her…?"

"I am sorry, Young Master," Towa apologized truthfully with a sad expression on her face, feeling ashamed that she couldn't even help in such a simple task. "I tried to search for her, but all I can find is the corsage and the view of her hand. I couldn't see anything else. My eyes appeared to have been blocked out by those who don't want me to search for her."

"Barrier," Daisuke suggested suddenly, a new light entered his eyes as everyone turned their attention to him. "There must be a barrier around that place. When Maia-san first went missing, I remembered Dark-san saying something along the line of '_Someone is doing some bad mojo tonight'_. It would probably mean-"

"He smelled magic in the air!" Daiki, Daisuke's grandfather joined in, abandoning his newspaper on the table. "Dark is an entity of a magical art himself. He would know best if there was somebody doing magic. And since he said it was a 'bad mojo', then…then it is a bad mojo."

"Dark magic," Satoshi said, convinced of his theory. "People who have real magic in them never uses Dark Magic; only those that are purely human would resort to such low tactic to get her. The people we are chasing are the Mafias, and they practiced Dark Magic to erect a barrier, creating a distraction to whomever that stumbles upon it and making them confused. That's why the police department never managed to find their headquarters hideout!"

Flipping his phone and dialed the Inspector's number, Satoshi barked orders into his cell phone the moment the line came through the other side.

"Kitsuo! Interrogate everyone on the patrol department; find out if anyone ever gets confused around some areas when they're patrolling or smelled something out of the blue. Report back after you has done your interrogation."

With another flip of his phone, he ended the call without ever hearing the Vice Supreme Commander say, "Sir!"

"We're another step closer to her, people. Another step closer and we'll get her back…" Satoshi mumbled to himself, not noticing that everyone heard what he had said and actually gets highly motivated with his words alone. He is never one to pray often, but now, he prayed to whichever Gods up upon the starry skies that Maia believes, praying for her safe return and praying that she will be safe.

"If I were Kitsuo-san, I would've gotten confused with that kind of order too…" Emiko mumbled to herself, sighing as the night stretched on without another news about the missing student, Akihiko Maia.

Towa is serving tea to the family and the guest when suddenly, she seemed as if she had been strike by lightning and straightened her back in less than a second, a vacant look in her eyes as she stared ahead.

"I felt the White Rose Corsage moves," Towa said in monotone. "The Corsage has changed its location."

Instantly, that piece of news had Satoshi's eyes glowed, an eager look on his face as he once again strode up towards Towa and grabbed her shoulders. As soon as Towa felt something about the corsage, Satoshi's heart literally sank into his stomach as he could feel, despite the small, almost miniscule bond between him and Maia through the White Rose Corsage disappears. He could no longer feel her in his inner mind. "Where is it?" Satoshi demanded anxiously, gripping Towa with a disbelieving expression on his handsome features. "Is she with the corsage! Tell me she's with the corsage!"

"It fell out of her hand by force," Towa said, her eyes still vacant and staring into the distance. "Someone must have slapped her or something. Then someone picks it up. A man, a man picked it up. Then towards the dustbin, he walks towards the dustbin. The ocean and the sound of water hitting the cliff are loud here. Warehouse. A black one."

"It must have seemed pretty useless to them or else something beautiful like that corsage wouldn't end up in the dustbin," Kosuke said thoughtfully, fingers stroking his chin as he thought about the reason and possibilities regarding the strange white rose corsage that Satoshi talked about. "If it was a girl who picked it up, they would have tried to bring it home. So our culprit who has thrown it away must be a man."

"Where does this warehouse faces, Towa?" Daiki asked calmly, noting the young Hikari's anxiousness. "If it is near the sea, we would find it ultimately, but all four corners of Azumano Chou are loaded with ports and warehouses. You need to be specific."

There is no answer from Towa. Instead, she stared for a long time to empty spaces, seeing with her all seeing eyes and trying to fulfill the request of her current master. It was a long while before she finally answers with a definite, "Eastern side."

Everyone gaped. The Niwa family lives at the eastern side of Azumano Chou, and the nearest warehouse is just 2-4 blocks away from their current residence. Everyone was surprised with the new information.

"Hiwatari-kun! That's good news!" Daisuke cried out, slapping a hand on Satoshi's shoulder and yelled that particular information into the young prodigy's ears. Daisuke laughed happily, and suddenly, he started to laugh stupidly and awkwardly. The redhead suddenly stiffened and slowly removes his hand from the commander's shoulder, his face frozen into a mask of awkward smile while his eyes betrayed his current emotion.

"How brave…those fucking man-whores…" Satoshi said in a deep low tone, his eyes burning angrily at the thought of them hurting his Maia. Emiko flinched from the amount of hate generate by the young Supreme Commander. "They dared to hurt _my_ Maia. They dared to take away the one thing I gave her…they dared to undo the protection that I've weaved for her…They dared to commit such absurdity…"

Standing up, Satoshi walked to the windows and looked up to the night sky. It was a crescent moon, shrouded within grey white clouds and appearing briefly every once in a while, only to hide behind the clouds once again when the wind picked up their speed. He glared into the dark sky and said solemnly, "I've given fair warnings that she is mine, and that nobody is to touch her, more so to hurting her. For her, I would weave all the magic I have and secure her to safety, and destroy those vermin who have dared to lay their filthy hands on her. I'll vanquish all her fears, and get her back to me."

"And how do you suppose to do that?" said Daiki, his old wise eyes scanning the young raging man who had lost his lover. He knew that kind of pain. He's been through it when Emiko's mother passed away. His world fell down that time, and he so wanted to kill whatever it was that killed her. But she passed away peacefully, and there's nothing he could do about it.

_At least the young man's lover is still alive…_thought Daiki grimly for a moment.

Turning around, Satoshi regarded the old man carefully.

"How do you suppose you could get her back when her exact location still remains a mystery to you? What Towa had said just now might just be useful, but so far as I know, those warehouses are lined up in a maze, and there's more than one black warehouse over there…" Daiki explained kindly. "I trust that my son-in-law have given you another ring after you used it up to seal Qualia?"

"Yes," Satoshi said after a moment of silence. "But I'm not going to use it. Krad's more than sane right now, and he, too, is upset that she's missing from my side…"

**I'M NOT UPSET, YOU STUPID BOY! **Krad denied vehemently.** HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF THAT! **

If Krad were to appear out of the blue in reality, temperatures surrounding them would rise up, and everyone would laugh at the red blushes spreading alarmingly across the blonde's pale face.

…

**DON'T YOU DO THAT TO ME! DON'T YOU DARE DESTORY MY IMAGE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THAT MOUSY! DON'T YOU "…" ME OR I'LL START CUSSING EVERY WORD I KNOW IN MY HEAD!**

… _The only time when I can see you lose your control and scream like that is…well…never. Not until Maia went missing. You do live in the back of my mind, you know, so I know everything you're thinking about unless you tried you're very best to suppress it from me. You love her, just like how I love her. We're living in the same body after all…_

**YOU STUPID SHIT! YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT! YOU STUPID STUPID STUPID STU-**

"As I was saying before Krad started to scream in my head," Satoshi mentally blocked Krad's voice from getting into the mainstream of his mind so as to not get a migraine, he continued in his normal tone, "I'm not going to use the ring. I'm saving it for something more crucial, and I sensed that it's not now."

"So how about your police forces?" surprisingly, Daisuke joined in the discussion with his own opinion. "Have you heard anything from them?"

Satoshi shook his head dejectedly. "Not yet, and I don't suppose my forces could have done anything better. Like your grandpa had said earlier, there's more than one black warehouse here, not to mention that there is dark magic at work here. It is what will shield them from ordinary people's vision, and even if I rounded up all the magic users and help to search for her, it won't happen any moment sooner and I'm afraid that it'll be too late." Satoshi's eyes darkened at the thought of finding the cold corpse of Maia, or that she's been violated violently, or that she's been bloodied and hit and beaten and – Satoshi quickly shakes his head to clear off all those thoughts away from his mind. He promise himself that he won't think of the consequences, but focus about how to save her. "The magical barrier will bar my police forces from finding their place, as it is what had shielded them all these whiles. It'll need some considerable amount of magic to reveal them and destroy their barrier. I've been gathering my magical powers for a long while now just to use this today…"

"Gathering magical power for a long while…?" Daisuke repeated as his eyes widened in surprise when Satoshi nodded his head in agreement. "You mean, you knew this day is gonna arrive? That Maia-san is going to get kidnapped?"

Satoshi smiled stiffly. "Maia tends to tell me things that are bothering her when she's having cakes," Satoshi stood up once again, pacing in front of the Niwa family members with his head hung down in deep thought. "Everything she talks about tends to include a fair amount of incident regarding stalkers stalking her at broad daylight. As far as she realizes, these incidents have been increasing at a frightening amount. She kept me in the dark about this for all these while and refused to let me worry about her. I found out about them anyway and assigned bodyguards for her, keeping her safe from all those Mafias who are trying to take her, but she refused them, so yes, I knew about them and tried everything I could to prevent them," By this time, Satoshi's hand had already clamped tightly in anger, forming a fist and ready to hit the imagery Mafia floating right in front of him. Eyes burning in fury, Satoshi said coldly in a tone laced with hate he never knew he is capable of, "-and yet she is _still_ taken away from me and all of them slips pass _my_ sight."

He closes his eyes and rubbed the spot in between his brow. He couldn't help but to feel helpless. He had let all of them take his Maia away when she is still in the pub, meaning that they, too, have been inside the pub house, and hiding in the shadows to avoid his all-seeing eyes. He trusted Wild Daisy's safe pub, but it appears that he is wrong in assuming that the Mafias wouldn't dare to enter such a place with his influence floating around it. They really would do anything to get his Maia.

_And they succeeded_. At such thought, Satoshi's furrowed his brow again in hate and angrily glared into the sky again.

"Here's what I thought," Daisuke suddenly piped up, his head snapped up in a way that gives hope to everyone surrounding him. Those eyes of his sparkled with a shade of light that tells everyone he has a brilliant idea. "Yoi, the King of the Waters of Azumano-Chou, has pledged himself to help and protect Maia-san. He probably didn't notice that Maia is taken with all those bad mojo going around, but we could try and enlist his help, tell him what happened…"

"Maia-chan had the Water King's pledge!" Emiko said, appearing suddenly impressed with Daisuke's friends. She never knew most of his friends are so capable. Before she could think more, her father's opinion came pouring out into the conversation. "Wow, she's good!"

"And with the cleansing power the Ancient King held," Daiki said thoughtfully, "-he could bring a bout of seawater rain all over Azumano-Chou and wash away all the bad spells!"

"We could use Towa's searching ability to locate the King and request that he'd come over-" Kousuke said, not missing out on the beat of thoughts surrounding the Niwa family.

Towa's eyes widened in excitement at that particular news update in rescuing Maia. It's been a while since she had laid eyes upon the King of the Waters of Azumano-Chou. Rumors had said that he's far cuter than Dark in person, and she wanted to see him more now that the Niwa's have mentioned him. "I could do that!" she chirped happily.

Without waiting, the Guide closed her eyes and looked far away into the waters, searching for the King's whereabouts. She is surprised when she found out that the King is wandering not far from Satoshi's home, looking up hopefully into the sky, awaiting the call of the girl he had pledged his trust in.

When she came over to him telepathically, the King snapped his head around and a shield of water surrounded him. It looked more like a natural defense the waters have for their king, and Towa quickly explained the situation to the startled King. When she came to the parts about the girl named Akihiko Maia, the King's eyes widened and, in a flash of lightning, the waters rushed forward in jets of streams and headed right towards the Niwa's household, not bothering to wait for an invitation.

Searching the King's quick job, locating him is quick job, briefing him on Akihiko Maia's situation is also quick job. Bringing him over to the House of Niwa? She didn't even get to do that in person! Towa pouted to herself when she thought about it. Such a short amount of time and her work is done. Still, she stood around and listened intently to anything more that she could do for the Niwa household. After all, it's rare that a visitor from the Hikari clan came over all distressed and lost. It was an exciting event. For now, Towa would satisfy herself with staring long and hard at the King of the Waters of Azumano-Chou. _Oh, so damn cute,_ she thought to herself.

"We are Yoi," the blonde royal said hurriedly, nodding his head to the family and standing in a manner befitting a royal. "We are the Ruler of the Waters of Azumano-Chou. What had happened? Lovely Maia is gone from her abode by the Cliffside. By this time, she would have come back from wherever she was. We have our suspicions when the tinge of black magic lingers around her abode a while ago, but we have thought sincerely that you, Lord Hikari, would have dealt with them…"

Satoshi bowed back respectfully at the young ancient King. "Thank you for receiving me, O Ancient Highness of the Waters." Straightening up his back, Satoshi flashed the young king a grim look. "I have, in fact, dealt with them, but I regret that I did not pursue the matter due to Maia's own request. I'm the one to blame for listening to her, and by the time I realize just what kind of dangerous situation it has become, she has gone missing from my side. It's been hours. I need to find her as quickly as possible. I fear for the worst to befall her…"

"Lovely Maia?" Yoi said, thunder shocked thoroughly to the core of his very being. The water splashed jerkily following his emotions. "She is missing?"

Satoshi nodded once dourly. "I'm afraid so."

In an instant, the water tide rose magnificently above the Cliffside and splashed angrily against the stone, its very force created a loud noisy thunder-like sound that doesn't exactly sounds good. The dark sky, originally clear, suddenly looked dark as clusters of dark puffy clouds gathered at an alarming rate. "Who did it?" the Water King said in a deep dark voice, his eyes swirling in a sudden bright blue color that looked menacing enough to make the Guide of Eternity stopped staring and flinch in fear.

"It's recent, and I've dispatched my people to stand guard against all exits of Azumano-Chou. The kidnapper is still within this region, but I – _we_ remained ignorant of her exact location. Your water, especially the waters surrounding you, has the power to purify evil and destroy what are not supposed to exist by the hands of a human with no magical powers. Those who kidnapped her are residing in a warehouse with their own makeshift barrier surrounding it, hindering the Guide's sight and my forces' ability to locate them."

The young King nodded once in understanding. "We understand. We will assist Hikari-sama in locating Maia of the Human's location immediately."

Turning around, the young King casted his swirling bright blue eyes into the sky. Drawing his powers from within his very being, his eyes became dilated and rimmed with the bright blue irises, swirling dangerously as he directed his anger towards the sky. Immediately, thunder raged across the dark clusters of clouds and rain started to pour down heavily from the sky.

"Our water will wash away all the evil surrounding her," the Water King said solemnly, his dark eyes now watching the raging sea. Willing himself to calm the ocean he currently reigned, the young King turned around and placed his gaze onto Satoshi himself. "Our time on land is limited, and since we've let our emotions gets the better of us, our waters is upset, and we need to calm it down before more damaging catastrophe occur. We trust that you will find her and keep her safe, O Lord Hikari?"

With a burning gaze, Satoshi said somberly to the King in promising words, "She guards my heart and soul. I won't let my future bride be tarnished by the filthy hands of lowly humans such as the likes of the Mafias."

With that said the King gave Satoshi an encouraging nod and dove into the rain smoothly, disappearing into the water silently as everyone watches the young Ancient King vanishes into the deep water. Everyone watches in awe at the disappearing King. No one alive in history has seen the Kings of the Olds – no, not even the Niwas – more so than making a contract with them.

_**How is that bratty kid able to find her when Argentine here is not able to do so? **_Dark said from within Daisuke, making a stupid jealous face when the Water King managed to get Towa to stare at only his royal face when he has the looks of a young brat who just started to grow up.

"How is the King able to find Maia-san?" Daisuke asked, modifying the question in hopes of avoiding further argument between the two souls of the Dark Artworks within Satoshi's and Daisuke's body. "Isn't Argentine here enough?"

"Argentine's ability can only pinpoint the corsage's location, as Maia's captor probably have removed it and thrown it away," Satoshi explained, looking out into the raging sea as it gradually calms down with the presence of the King. "I wanted the exact location of Maia's whereabouts so that I can send my men in to destroy the sole checkpoint of the Dreamer's Warehouse once and for all. I don't want the proprietor of the Dreamer's Warehouse to get away this time." Satoshi finished in a rather sinister tone, his blazing gaze casted out into the sea, the very image of the ones who have captured her getting closer within his grasp.

The flag is waved. The fight now commences. The reward?

Akihiko Maia.

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**A/N: I can't believe I've done it actually. Tell me what you think about it and the next chappie might just come up quicker...teehee!**


	15. 15: Dreamer

A/N: Hello everyone!It's been such a long while since I've uploaded anything up to Fanfiction dot Net. This is my last year in college, and I'm beating my brains out for all sorts of crisis and catastrophe that had so unfortunately landed upon me this year, thus the late updates. Rest assured, I have no desire to stop writing. No matter how long it takes, I would have loved to finish writing this, as this is basically my second fanfiction.I would love to have some review on this chapter. Tell me anything - from what you think about Maia and Krad to what you think about the stupid Mafia Lord. Thank you for the support.

Love you all, enjoy!**  
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* * *

**15-Dreamer**

Maia had unconsciously allowed the Mafia Lord – Kent – to lead her towards the sofa and coaxed her to sit down. She could feel that strange sensation in her mind swirling in anticipation towards the Mafia's actions, but otherwise, it told her that for now, she is safe, and that she won't be safe any longer, and that she needs to find a way out of this dreaded place as soon as possible.

Scanning the cold dark warehouse, she allows her instinct to roam freely within the vicinity of the steel hideout. All she could feel from her senses is steel, and everywhere she tried to poke appears futile – hell, even a small mouse hole did not give her the privilege of even peering outside of the warehouse. It is as if something akin to a wall is blocking her sight, and – goodness gracious! – She immediately recoiled back her senses, shivering to herself when she's back in reality. The wall absolutely reeks of the most horrible smell she has ever smelled.

Then her gaze flitted towards the Mafia Lord sitting there enjoying a glass of wine. He is admiring her with a smug smile on his stupid lips, as if kidnapping her from Satoshi's side is something worth being proud off. That very though puts a frown on her forehead.

"Let me go this instant," Maia said in a demanding tone, her posture haughty and suddenly appeared almost aloof with all the low life surrounding her. Kind as she was, she cannot accept people who destroy the innocent and the helpless; and now that she had witnessed those who extinguished the flame of life from all those girls, she grew cold with fury. "I will not tolerate this any longer."

"I tried to come for you earlier, you know?" Kent said, now lounging on a sofa and swirling the red wine in his wine glass, savoring its exquisite scent before taking a slight sip from the brew, completely ignoring Maia's demand. "Your dear boyfriend, however, the Supreme Commander of the Azumano Police Department is just so protective of you, going as far as to order a whole package of bodyguards to guard you 24 hours." As expected, Kent saw Maia's eyes glinted slightly at the sound of the young genius's name.

"Don't you dare to use your filthy mouth to say his name," Maia said bitingly, her eyes aflame with fury she never knew she possesses. "You're dirty enough. Don't sully his good name in that tone of yours."

Staring, Kent merely smirked and continued as if he didn't hear her biting remarks. "I couldn't get closer to you after the black tulip's incident. I have them sent to you, as it is a symbolic flower for our organization. It was an invitation – a high class one, mind you my dear, to our humble abode. It was meant for you, not for his hands. He sullied both the spell and the flower, destroying the power within the flower…"

-Flashback-

_-Knock, knock!-_

_The apartment's door opened to a young lady with a kind smile. "Good morning, Miss," the delivery boy who had knocked upon Maia's door came up to the doorsteps and greeted her politely. "Akihiko Maia-san deska (Are you Miss Akihiko Maia)?"_

"_Yes I am," Maia said kindly, holding the door open when Satoshi came up behind her and peered curiously at the delivery boy. "How may I help you?"_

"_Ano, there's a package for you, here it is," the boy said shyly upon realizing he's speaking to a beautiful pair of couple, especially Maia herself. As the boy noted, her very being seemed to be wrapped up with a strange glow of happiness that made her looked blissfully beautiful. The young boy smiled to himself and gratefully admired the kind Maia, who regarded him with a pair of beautiful warm brown eyes. _

"_Thank you," said Maia, smiling kindly. Maia took the offered package from the boy and looked around the package for a name, but when she finds none, she asked the delivery boy, "From whom?"_

_The boy had stood there for quite a while when Maia went through turning the package around, searching for a name from the deliverer, realizing later that he is actually rummaging through his pocket for a pen and holding another file in his other arm. It's been a while since she received a package, and she had carelessly forgotten that she needs to sign when she receives a package from the delivering company for confirmation that the package has safely arrived. _

_Fishing out the pen that had got caught between his jacket and his shirt pocket, the delivery boy looked up from his searching only to find that both couple's eyes are looking at him. One indifferently, whiles the other beautifully kind. "Oh," the boy said, surprised. Quickly, he searched for the receipt. He had find it strange at first that the deliverer wanted no stickers or words written on the parcel, but dismissed it as normal. Handing the receipt to Maia, the boy said after he read the sender's name from the receipt. "It's from a…Mr. Kent."_

"_Uncle Kent?" Maia mouthed to herself, strange curiosity overcome her expression upon hearing the name of the sender. When the delivery boy bowed to her, Maia quickly looked up and bowed back graciously. "Thank you," Maia said as the delivery boy leaves the staircases to her apartment._

_Closing the door, Maia placed the package on the dining table, looking at the receipt with a strange expression on her face. "Uncle Kent never sends me things, and this address is not his…" _

_Satoshi noted Maia's strange expression and gave his comment, "Maybe he sends it from another place…? You do say that he's on the other side of the world a while ago…"_

"_No," Maia said firmly, while Satoshi appeared taken aback with the tone she used on him. She have never appeared so solemn in all the while he had known her, and he finds that there is a slight unease feeling brewing in his chest. "Uncle Kent and the rest of my relatives would personally come here with the things they wanted to send for me. I've requested for them to not visit me if there are no long holidays because I wanted to be independent for a while. Sending me things would be a perfect excuse for them to come here and see me. You've never seen them send me things before because you're working at the police department. They never stayed here overnight or more than half a day before, and this parcel has me in for all the questions in my mind..."_

_Placing a hand on top of hers, Satoshi said in a low cautious tone, "Maia, would you let me open this parcel?"_

_Maia blinked in confusion. "Sure. I'm fine with it, but why?"_

_Satoshi smiled his crooked smile and said in a strange tone. Everything is so strange with the arrival of the parcel, and he didn't like the feel of it at all. He could already feel the fallen angel within him stir with the same unease feeling. "It might sound weird, but I don't like the feel of that package so close to you, let alone you touching it with your bare fingers…"_

"_I don't like it either…it feels like an impending doom of death…and it's kinda cold… Like a message from hell…"_

_Satoshi snapped his head towards Maia, surprised that she could actually feel the exact same thing that he had felt when Maia showed him the package._

"_You do recall that I've told you about dark spells?" Satoshi said, turning his attention back to the package. He felt Maia nodded her head beside him and watches as he slices the parcel's wrapping paper carefully with a pen knife Maia handed to him out of nowhere. "Spells and curses will latch themselves on the person whom the caster has initially wished to curse. The moment they touched the outer layer of anything that wraps and protects the curse from outsiders, they would feel those feelings you're feeling when you held the parcel in your hand just now. And the next thing you know you're cursed…"_

_As Satoshi peeled off the last wrapper covering the items inside the package, Maia swallowed a gasp of horror when Satoshi revealed the content of the package. _

_It was a single stem of black tulip, the very emblem of the Mafia group here in Azumano-Chou._

-End of Flashback

Standing up, Maia walked a distance away from Kent, not wanting to see his stupid smug face again. _No wonder why Satoshi is so freaked out by that flower…_thought Maia to herself, her eyes casted downwards and staring at the granite floor. "I know about that," Maia said passively, looking straight into the eyes of the disgusting man in front of her. "I know the flower's from the stupid gang you had in your pocket. You haven't the need to explain it to me."

Kent chuckled at the sight of Maia appearing passive. He knew she's boiling within. Nobody liked it when their lovers are insulted right in front of their very ears. He finds her terribly adorable when she's like that. "Were you actually held it in your fingers," he explained. "-you would have been put under a come-hither-spell, and you'll walk into our lair all by yourself by the stroke of midnight. I know that Hiwatari Satoshi burned that tulip soon after he opened that box, and I've suffered the consequences from a failed spell, and it rebounded back to me violently –" Kent opened up a few of his front buttons and revealed a nasty deep black gash on the right side of his upper torso, right where his livers are. He sighed dramatically, swirling the wine in his glass again and staring at it sadly. "But no matter…"

"I tried another method again, and this time, I tried the silent approach. You remember that time at the pool?" Kent said, chuckling as if he remembered something funny while twirling the now empty wine glass in his hand. "I tried to come and get you that night too, after the bunch of stupid kids left the stadium, but my men and I couldn't even get closer to the windows of the stadium after the kids left. It seems that there was some strange kind of shield that prevented us from coming closer to you. I was left with a broken heart that night. It was as if something is there protecting you from our view and from our approach. I never managed to find out who did that, but never the less, I now have you in my arms."

Standing up, Kent walked towards Maia and pulled her into him by her arm roughly, smacking her body right up to his, feeling her breast heaving against his, providing him the turn on he needed before he proceeded with his plan to deflower her. Maia's instinct told her to keep quiet, and she closed her eyes tightly when Kent leaned into her neck and nuzzled his face into her hair.

Taking a deep whiff of her hair and her womanly scent, Kent suddenly noticed something different about her, and his smile fell from his face. "The first time I saw you are also the same time that I've smelled you," he started in a dangerous low tone. He sounded rather angry with the new information he found out about her. "You smelled so clean back then; pure, even, like a virgin untouched by any men before; so fresh, so sweet, and so beautiful. But now," he said, taking another whiff and appeared offended by the new scent surrounding Maia. "I smelled this… this seductive, lusty scent around you-" to emphasize what he is saying, he grabbed hold of Maia's hand and pushed his nose into her palm, all the while keeping his gaze on her. "-and the scent of another man…a scent that tells me that you're no longer a virgin…and no longer pure and alone but belonging to someone else…" he said throatily, his eyes burning with white fury.

For once, Kent saw the almost blindingly beautiful smile and is momentarily stunned by the sheer sight of it. She had never smiled at him, and he didn't think that he would ever see them, more so when she did it willingly. Her lips curved up to form a soft smile, her eyes faraway and longing for the man who loves her with all his soul. In an almost whispering tone, she said softly, "I belong to him, and so does he. He's completely mine now, as do I to him…"

Slowly taking in what Maia had just said, Kent's mind had momentarily gone blank in shock, his eyes wide with the horrific revelation that she now belongs to the Supreme Commander in body and in mind. She is no longer the beautiful white rose he had first encountered at the airport. She is no longer untouched. She no longer retains her virtue and she is no longer _fresh_.

In other words, she is a product that had gone _stale_. And he hated stale products.

The anger that suddenly bubbles up from within his chest made him grabbed her hand. Maia jerked her hand away upon contact with his hand and the white rose corsage fell out of her hand by force. Watching on with her eyes wide, Maia settles with focusing on the advancing Kent while some unknown men picked up her precious white rose corsage and threw it away.

But when he looked into her eyes, feeling the cool breath from her mouth fanning his face and sensing that beautiful warm brown jewel staring right back at him, he felt happy. It had been quite a while since he had had this feeling that is so akin to love. She is so beautiful, regardless of her being a virgin or not. She is like a white rose turned red, and her petals are glowing with that seductive deep crimson hue that draws him even closer compared to when she is just a white innocent rose. He had never encountered anyone more beautiful than she is, and he greedily wanted to have her all to himself.

And so…

"But I forgive you, Lovely Maia," Kent said softly and gently, running his knuckles over her smooth cheek, marveling at their velvety texture. "Although I am disappointed that it is not I who had deflowered you, I find that your new scent is rather alluring, and your new image as a woman much more interesting than when you were just a _girl_…"

"Don't touch me," Maia warned, her eyes blazing with cold fury once again. "You're making me feel dirty."

"But darling dear," Kent chuckled , leaning his face into Maia's and used a rather seductive husky tone in the hopes that he'll be able to seduce her. "You're very clean yourself. Your white skin is almost glowing with silver, and your smooth milky thigh and breast is just so temptingly sparkling that I couldn't help but to want to dirty them…"

Pushing Maia into the lush sofa, Kent climbed over her flailing form and licked the shell of her ear. "I'd love it if you would just wrap your beautiful legs around my waist… Savor it as I take you to higher pleasure…and try not to fight me or I'll give it to you rough and hard…"

Maia screamed when she felt her panties ripped from her roughly. Kent is in the middle of a ministration of loosening the strap on her shoulder when Maia's hand reached far enough and grabbed hold of whatever is in her reach and bring it down to the back of his head hard. Grunting in pain, Kent loosens his hold on her and she scrambled away from him, sitting further away from him in the large sofa, dropping what is left of the glass wine and hearing it shatter its remains on the cold hard floor.

Chuckling, Kent fished out a white handkerchief and dabbed at the gash now formed at the back of his head. Laughing out loud, Kent said loudly in a much throatier voice, "However did you know that I love hardcore, my dear!? You're such an adorable creature! You're the very first woman who managed to turn me on without even touching me, and I haven't kissed you yet! Bravo, Mi Amour!"

Maia's whole being seemed to freeze in fear when Kent suddenly transformed into a darker figure with red glinting eyes of lust. He seemed much more dangerous, and her inner mind tells her to prepare in case he gets closer to her.

"I'll make sure to _fuck_ you _thoroughly_, my dear Maia," Kent said menacingly, his eyes roaming her slender figure hungrily as he moved towards her slowly. "You shall be my personal whore, and you shall obey my every whim. I love hard sex, and since you asked for it, I shall give it to you _extra_ hard. Come here and let me fuck you hard, dear. I want to fuck you hard so bad that my hard penis's hurts all the more the farther I'm away from you. Come here!"

Then, as Kent neared her, Maia's instinct roared at her to hit his face as hard as she could. Not knowing what else to do in this situation, Maia obeyed her gut feeling and slapped his face with all her strength, her long fake nails decorated with small gems and carved roses scratched Kent's face and formed a deep gash across his handsome features.

The response from the Mafia Lord is – entirely – unexpected.

"You-!" Kent howled in an unmanly tone, his hand going up to his face and covering the bloody gashes that Maia's fake nails have provided. "You scratched my face! My beautiful face, no!"

He ran towards the table and grabbed a mirror on top of it, quickly scanning and checked the amount of damage done to his face. And by the looks of surprise and utter horror on his expression, the damage is serious. "NO!" he howled loudly, his facial expression changing almost immediately from charmingly good looking into a hideous gargoyle-like monster. "You've ruined my face! My beautiful face is ruined!"

"Serves you right anyway!" Maia exclaimed victoriously, suddenly feeling brave, and yet suddenly feeling as if she has done something awfully wrong. Nonetheless, she continued her comments on him regardless of the uncomfortable feeling that she is feeling in the pit of her stomach. For now, she wanted to insult him as much as he had insulted her boyfriend and her earlier. "You're fucking _ugly_ as you are right now, so there's nothing to be sad about that silly scratch! Take that as an improvement, you psycho!"

Looking up at her with a renewed look of insanity, Kent – with one hand still covering his bleeding cheek – pointed an accusing finger at her and called his 'buddies'. Maia, panicking, started to back off hurriedly, but not before bumping into a hard and warm surface of a man.

Looking up, the man smiled at her in an equally charming – albeit in a much perverted way – and looked at Kent. "Whassup, Lord?"

"Inject her!" Kent exclaimed angrily, his accusing finger trembled in fury. "And make sure you all do whatever you want with her extra violent! Manhandle her if you can! I want her destroyed!"

"With pleasure, sire!" the man smiled in a lustful way at her, his teeth yellow and foul breath came out from his mouth when he laughed. Grabbing her arms roughly, the man is unexpectedly thrown backwards by an invisible force, twitching in pain while his eyeballs rolled upwards to his skull.

Relieved, Maia took flight and searched all over the place for an exit with her eyes. Even her inner senses are not able to discern the door. Everywhere looked very much the same for her, and there is just no door.

Looking up, Maia almost whimpered hopelessly when the sight of a large glass covers what seemed to be the exit route to the warehouse, forming a glass trap door of the warehouse. There are no ropes around, and just when she thought about it, her eyes caught sight of a strange container that makes sense as the elevator for the warehouse, serving as the only escape route to this hell. She knew someone is definitely guarding the elevator, but still, she had to try her luck. Doors are thrown away and sealed off in order to prevent the girls from escaping. As soon as she started to will the trapdoor to open, the glass trapdoor's lock loosened and slides down, giving her a small opening to freedom if she were able to get up there.

Just when she is about to move, a pair of thick arms slides around her and wrapped her small torso tightly. Disgusted at the slick oily hand around her, Maia thought about escaping and as suddenly as it came, the pair of arms broke away from her and the person fell to the floor, apparently seized with a fit. It was then everything clicked in Maia's mind. She had somehow acquired superpowers admit the fear and threats in this hell and that she is unconsciously using them to protect herself. Testing her theory, Maia used one hand and mentally pushed the man to the walls. No sooner had she thought about this, the man currently seizing on the floor flew to the wall and slumped down on the granite floor, appearing dead to the world.

Quickly, she took flight and ran towards the stairs that serves as the receiving port for the elevator. Looking up, Maia willed the elevator to come down with her newfound power and suddenly finds that she is unable to when a blow strikes her in the back, throwing her off balance and right into the arms of the first beefy man who is ordered to take her somewhere by that idiotic leader of the Mafia gang. Throwing her to his back like a sack of potatoes and laughed again as he walked her to her demise, Maia tried to use her powers and screamed when she finds that her powers are gone, the beefy man laughing all the more when she screamed for him to put her down and let her go while she hits his back with her fists.

"Using magic, heh?!" the large man barked laughingly, groping her bottom with his large hand disgustedly. "We have just the right thing to counter that darn useful thing there, little pussy! You may win, but you won't win forever! We'll get our fuck through you no matter what happens now!"

Nothing fazed the man as Maia watched in horror when they came into a room where larges cages are set up on either side of the walls. Young beautiful girls, barely out of school and yet here they are, caught and kidnapped from families to be trained to do something horrible. The filthy potato sack that serves as their clothes revealed more than they could cover, leaving all the man hanging around their cages drooled at the sight of their white creamy breast and innocent fair bottoms.

The man carrying Maia gave a bark of orders and all men turned their heads simultaneously, staring at the 'reward' given by their 'sire'.

"Look what the Lord gave us! Hahaha!" the man laughed, patting Maia's bum as he said. All the man laughed lustfully along with him, inching closer to the large man. Fear strikes Maia's heart when she realized that they're going to violate her, and they're not going to be merciful about it at all. Gagging at the thought of having her soul and body tarnished by such filth, Maia felt her world tilted and her back came into contact with the ground hard, causing her to see white stars in her vision.

She felt a hand roughly pulled up her chin, and she heard voices laughing and calling her 'that bitch' and some other degrading names. It didn't do well that she's so dizzy that she couldn't even open her eyes. It was that foul smell of breath that managed to woke her up, sending a wave of vomit-inducing hormones up her throat.

"See here little pussy," said the large buff man who brought her into this room with a gruff voice. The man held and brandished a golden syringe filled with a strange silver-like liquid in front of her face, forcing her to look into the liquid inside the syringe by pulling up her chin again. As she stared unwillingly, the liquid seemed to swirl every once in a while as if it were alive. She blinked her eyes, thinking that it was the dizzy spell from being slammed mercilessly on the ground, but the more she looked, the more she realizes that it was no joke that the liquid actually _swirled_.

"This," the man continued, "is a syringe filled with something that could make you want us. You people call them aphrodisiac; we call it "The Dreamer". It keeps the person given this in a dream full of sex and sex and sex and orgasms, making them want it so bad when in actual reality, everyone is really fucking your ass and your pussy all way round. You may reject us right now, but after this baby-" the man lightly tapped the syringe against her forehead and laughed a stinking breath. "-Sinks into your bloodstream, you'll want us so bad your pussy hurts and you'll beg us to do you hard, and by that time we will all be here – willingly – to satisfy your needs and your endless pleadings-"

Maia's hand swung up and hit the syringe right out of the man's hand, breaking it as it drops to the ground and spilled its content everywhere. "I DON'T NEED THAT THING!" Maia screamed in horror, trying to back away as far as she could from the offending broken syringe and those dirty men. She could sense something from the silver-like liquid, and she could, to her amazement, _hear_ what the silver-like liquid could do to someone, and what made her eyes widened in revulsion is that what she heard is something that only happened during a carnal pleasuring process.

She heard _moans_; not in pain, but in pleasure.

The man holding her chin earlier merely laughed out loud, as if she had cracked a silly joke a 5 year old could do. Another man placed a brand new syringe into the man's hand, and this time, two other guys held her arms.

"You should be careful with this, little pussy," said the large buff man, caressing her face and ignoring her expression currently contorted into pure repulsion. The man leaned into her neck and breathed in her perfume. Sighing loudly, the man whispered on her face with his stinking breath, "It's hard to come by with a new syringe, and its precious liquid can last for _days._"

When Maia gasped in disgust, the man laughed into her ear and continued, "Everyone says that at first, but after the Dreamer is injected, you'll be screaming for us to fuck you hard and fast and rough. You'll be screaming for us to drive our big dick here-" He pointed to the clear huge bulge on his pants, "-into your hot tight spot, which we'll then give you a hardcore fucking that involves you pleasing all of us-" the man gestured his hands to all of his buddies. More than 10 of them smiled hungrily at her. "-and of us satisfying your needs."

"Don't worry," said one man, his voice so gentle and sounded so sweet. "We'll give you threesomes and foursomes at once. It'll be fun! I will drive my dick into your pussy while my twin brother here-" he patted the back of the identical man standing next to him. "-will drive his into your ass. It'll be a wonderful feeling we'll be giving you, baby. It doesn't hurt at all…"

"I'll drive my heels up into your nose and smash it into your brain before you'll realize it, fucktard!" Maia screamed angrily, feeling extremely insulted at his offerings. She's not a fucking whore for these fucking assholes here! She's Satoshi's girlfriend! She's the Supreme Commander of the Azumano Police Department's girlfriend! Lover! Soul Mate! Fiancee! Bride-to-be!

_Sato-kun_, she called in her mind loudly and desperately. _Where are you!?_

"You," the buff man said suddenly to the two men currently holding her arms. "Hold her tightly while I plunge this babe into her."

"Don't touch me, you freakin' assholes! Don't touch me!" Maia screeched in horror, trying to wriggle as much as possible to avoid the syringe's needle from reaching her. They made her felt she's going to get really dirty, as if it weren't just mud and soil sticks to her skin. And for a while, she is truly afraid of what is going to happen to her should she stay here any longer. The grin and evil smirks on their faces promised many fates for her.

It promises a fate that would have driven herself to the edge of life and choose death over living.

When Maia kept struggling and screaming one of the men who held her arms backhanded her face harshly and cuts off her scream, leaving her to see stars in her visions once again. Satisfied with his work as he watched her grown limp, the men continued to hold her arm to keep it in place while the other injected something into her left hand's brachial pulse.

All the man started to surround her, their clothes disappearing one by one, a distorted mixture of hunger and dirty wants in their face. Maia, in her current dazed state, wrapped her arms around her and kept her body close to herself, huddling in a tight ball, closing her eyes tightly and prays for some miracle to happen.

_Satoshi, Satoshi, Satoshi, Satoshi…_ she chanted over again in her head, hoping that it would somehow reach him. _I'm here…I'm here…! Save me…please…please…!_

A burst of white light came from above had all of them running for cover. It was those men's unmanly screams and that sudden whiteness in here eyelids that made her open her eyes, seeing all blurred vision from closing her eyes too tightly earlier. Briefly, Maia saw a pair of large white wings and a golden ponytail flashed around the place, the girl's screams and the sounds of metal cages swinging and clanging against each other.

Then a large shadow covers her, shrouding her in the dark. Watching on fearfully, the large shadow moves towards her in a frighteningly slow pace, and when one hand reached out for her, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Using all she has, Maia pushed the man away from her with all her might. Pitifully, Maia's strength is diminishing from the drug's effects and all she could now manage is a push here and a light kick there, continuing to scream and pray for help to come soon.

"Maia…Maia!" the figure said almost desperately, the tell-tale anger in his voice further frightened Maia to fight more gallantly with all she has. Then the figure's tone changed to a softer manner, as if he is chastised by someone and immediately corrected his mistakes. "Do you remember me, Maia of the humans? We've met before at the Island of Avice. It's me, Krad…"

Her struggling ceased almost immediately. _Krad_, Maia thought to herself. She knew that name. She heard it before, and she knew by instinct that this is the savior she has been waiting for so long in this hell of a warehouse. Daring her to look up and hoping that all of this is not a dream, Maia almost whimpered in relief at the sight of the handsome blonde angel standing in front of her with his arms and wings wide open, indicating that he is not here to hurt her.

"Kr…ad…" Maia croaked hoarsely, her tears now falling freely off her eyes and down her bruised cheeks. "Oh…Krad…"

A moment later, she is enveloped into a warm darkness, the familiar scent of Satoshi enveloping her as she takes a deep comforting breath of the torso of the man who saved her, the safe arms of an angel wrapped around her safely. Maia latched onto the angel's clothes immediately and hangs on tightly, afraid of losing her sudden appearance of hope and openly sobs her relief.

"Thank God…Krad…" she whispered hoarsely in the angel's safe embrace, her voice trembling in fear and relief as she repeated the words again and again like a mantra. "Thank the Gods…Krad…Thank you…"

"You troublesome little humans," said Krad to the crowds, pulling another magical feather from thin air and throw it towards the table they used to manufacture the sex drug Dreamer with his glaring eyes fixated upon the crowds of filth. "To dare touching the young master's soul mate is a crime against his lines of ancestors. You shall be eliminated and suffer for your doings."

He couldn't believe it himself that years ago, he would destroy every single one of those who loved Satoshi and whom Satoshi loved. He didn't like sharing his 'belongings', as he had called Satoshi so many years ago. He'd seen the young Niwa Daisuke struggled with saving Satoshi despite both of them being family rivals and enemies, and he hoped that Satoshi will never ever ventured deep enough into his mind to know that the notion of wanting desperately to be Satoshi's friend touched him to the core, and he will never admit that it was the young Niwa Daisuke who changed his mind about viewing Satoshi as a human. No one alive would ever know his sudden changed demeanor about saving another human being. Now that he had seen the good side of the war between the House of Niwa and the House of Hikari, he genuinely wanted the outcome to turn out a little better for everyone else. He wanted to be someone other than the evil part of the Black Wings art. He wanted to be alive for once, to try and be better.

And it all started from the appearance of Akihiko Maia.

Throwing another line of white feathers, Krad send many of the men stumbling and crashed down into a nightmarish slumber. **Orders from the Young Master,** thought Krad as he smiled evilly at the sight of the trembling and screaming sleeping men, relieving their nightmares over and over again in unimaginable horror and pain beyond the graves while they slept through it. The spells would be broken the moment the police came into the store house to wake them up. They'll suffer so long as they live, and he'll make sure the bad dreams stay with them for the rest of their lives.

"Do not open your eyes no matter what happen until I tell you otherwise, do you understand?" Krad said to the girl wrapped in his embrace almost gently, feeling her nodding vigorously against his chest frantically. She never ever wanted to see their evil and hungry grins anymore in her life. She wanted everything and every single one of them destroyed. She didn't want to even see their faces here even when they suffered in the dreams Krad had so kindly bestowed upon them as their ultimate punishment for a lifetime. She wanted them to disappear from her life and from the face of the earth.

She wanted to see Satoshi.

She could feel Krad loosening one of his arms around her and sat her in one of his arms while pressing her against his chest tightly in a way that silently reassures her that she is safe with him. Her feeble arms wrapped tightly around Krad's neck while she buried her face into the crook of his neck, her fear gradually diminishing in the embrace of the fallen angel accompanied by the familiar scent of Satoshi. After making sure she sits properly and safely in his arm, his wings beats the cold stinking warehouse and took flight through the large gaping hole in the warehouse's ceiling, throwing more magical feathers behind him to destroy the place that they had named as Factory.

**A factory where filths and teikyuu* is manufactured and born are not supposed to exist**, thought Krad as he watches from the sides of his eyes the fall of the Factory and the arrival of the police force Satoshi had called upon earlier.

"Where is Satoshi?" Maia panted, her face flushing red within Krad's safe embrace. She started to feel the effects of the disgusting injected drug, and she fisted her hand on his clothes while she tried to withhold all the new feelings surging through her. "Where is he?" she demanded faintly. "I want to see him"

Krad paused for a while, his wings continued to beat into the night as he contemplating whether to tell her a lie or the truth. He guessed that even if he told her a lie, she would know immediately due to her rapid progress in power. At the thought of her progressing powers, his eyes narrowed unpleasantly. Almost worriedly, he thought about how a human's body is made to fail at some point, and that it couldn't withstand such surges of power growth.

"He is not well," said Krad, settling for the simple truth, his eyes settled carefully on the girl in his arms. "He had used up all the magic he could use to locate you, which is not an easy task since this kind of magic that shielded all these filth for all these while is extremely powerful. The barrier they use is strong, but not impossible to break through. With a few blind spots, all we need to do is focus on these spots and hit it with magic. The young master has worn himself out in the process, and his current condition demands rest and to not overexert his soul."

He could feel Maia's grip on his shoulder tightened, possibly from worry. "The Young Master expresses guilt for not being able to come here and save you himself," said Krad, throwing another handful of magical feathers to shield them from any straying eyes and giving his wings a mighty flap to heave them up higher into the air, "and so I came in his place."

Krad landed both of them at Satoshi's part of the garden. Still carrying Maia in his arms, Krad strode in through the back sliding door and entered Satoshi's apartment. Setting her down slowly and gently, Krad started to check Maia for injuries.

"Are you hurt? Did you scratch yourself or did they did anything harmful to you?" asked Krad, finishing checking her legs and starting to check her eyes. There were no burns, only a slightly swollen cheek from a possible backhanded slap. Krad gritted his teeth, regretting that he did not damage that particular human who had done this to her a little more cruelly. Maia merely kept quiet throughout the process, her half-lidded eyelids and her flushed cheeks a strange combination for her current condition, and Krad simply assumed that she had merely gone into shock.

Summoning his power, Krad's hand started to radiate a warm light of golden glow. He set his glowing hand on Maia's swollen cheek and they healed after a while. He is thinking about altering her memories for the sake of forgetting this traumatic night and was going to ask her for her permission when her hands suddenly grabbed his head and covered his lips in hers, kissing him hungrily.

Shocked by such unexpected behavior from Maia, Krad stayed there staring at Maia before finally realizing that the kiss lasted for quite a long while. Before he could move to push her away, Maia had already dislodged herself from the fallen angel, one hand on her chest to steady her rapidly beating heart. Her breathing is harsh and she appears to sweat heavily, her eyes closed tightly as if she is repressing a respond from her body.

"Stay away from me," Maia said throatily with one of her hand put in front of her as a shield, moving away from Krad rapidly while keeping her eyes on him, stumbling over tables as her hip and legs hit the edges of tables and chairs. "Don't come near me…Don't come near me!"

The fallen angel frowned to himself; she is the one who had latched on him and stole a kiss from him, and she is also the one who told him to stay away from her?! Isn't he the victim here?! He's not the one who kissed her! He was going to open his mouth and inquire her about her ridiculous claims when she said in a small pleading tone, "I don't know what's happening to me…I-I don't know what I might do to you…"

Eyes widened in alarm, Krad flew towards her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her and ask her in a demanding tone, "What is the meaning of this, Maia?" When Maia tried to get away from him by struggling weakly, he asked again in a gentler tone, "What happened to you?"

Maia started to whimper sadly, tears falling from her sorrowful brown eyes that for a moment, Krad thought his heart is going to break just by watching her. Looking up with tears in her eyes, Maia grabbed a fistful of Krad's front clothes and asked him in an almost demanding, sorrowful tone, "What is happening to me?" Krad kept quiet, not knowing what involves within the situation. "Am I becoming like what they said I would? What that filth said I would be?"

**This is not good**_,_ Krad thought somberly. "Maia," he begun, "Tell me what did they do to you? Did they give you something? Say something to you in a strange language? Did they say they curse you?"

"T-they…" Maia stuttered, her breath coming in hiccups. "They gave me the Dreamer, Krad…" Maia said tearfully, as if she were ashamed to admit it. Her face, as Krad noticed, started to flush and her breathing is harsher going by the moments.

_The Dreamer…?_Said Satoshi within Krad, almost alarmed by the revelation. _Did she say they gave her the Dreamer!?_

**Apparently, Young Master, that's what the girl says.**

_The Dreamer is an illegally manufactured sex drug, Krad, _Satoshi said grimly._ The mafias have modified legal aphrodisiac and mixed it with many types of other drugs, making its effects lasting and painless, allowing the victims to experience their death slowly. It can only be dissolved through carnal pleasure, and it cannot be neutralized or taken out from the blood. It made her blood runs high, thus the urge and desire to make love. It needs something only the opposite gender is able to give to relieve the drug's effects._

Krad could feel his breath hitched in his chest; suchdisgusting filth manufacturing something so appalling.** And if it's not neutralized?**

The fallen angel could almost predict the answer with the long silence and the grave tone Satoshi used to answer his question._ Her blood would kill her._

As soon as Satoshi's answers passed his mind, the image of Maia killed or drowned by her own blood came to him and he realizes that the outcome of it is extremely horrifying. After so much has happened, he couldn't imagine his last salvation to goodness gone just like this. He couldn't imagine the heartbreak of losing Maia. He realizes quietly that both he and Satoshi need her. She's his salvation, whilst to Satoshi; she's his one and only soul mate. After coming such a long way and with Satoshi swearing the Oath under the First Autumn Moonlight, they couldn't lose her or Krad himself would risk having his host dying from the despair of losing his bonded soul mate.

**What should I do then? **Krad said almost disturbingly. **There must be other ways to help her other than to actually help her relieve the drug's effects!**

There was only silence, and a sudden realization hit Krad without even needing Satoshi to say anything. The eerie silence is more than enough to serve as an answer.** You don't expect me to help her relieve her urges, aren't you?**

If Satoshi is right in front of him, Krad could imagine the blue-haired genius staring at him hard._ That's what I'm going to ask of you, Krad. _

Krad frowned.** I won't do it, **said Krad firmly.** You know I won't do it.**

_Krad! _Satoshi exclaim made Krad cringed._ You have to do it for me! She'll die if you won't do it!_

**She's your-**

_And that's my body you're using, so it won't make any difference except for our exchanged consciousness! _Satoshi interrupted Krad before he could protest any further.

It was then Krad turned towards Maia. Both watched from each other's eyes as Maia started to tremble, her arms wrapped around herself in a less than protective way while her breathing grew increasingly harsh. She kept chanting Satoshi's name over and over again, her brows furrowed together tightly in an almost attached way. Panting and closing her eyes tightly, they watched as she flushed another deeper shade of red while her eyes started to roll back.

_She's suffering to her death, Krad, _said Satoshi,his voice starting to break from having to look at his lover without able to help in any way_._

For the sake of searching his lover's exact location, Satoshi had used his precious magical powers to perform a complicated Seeking Spell, draining almost all of his carefully collected magical powers and his energy. Shortly after the spell completed its search and her location discovered, Satoshi had used the last of his energy to make a call to Inspector Saehara to send a large police force to surround the very warehouse that housed those filths and collapsed while Krad took over his body in a strangely non-violent way. He didn't even go for his regular search of killing Dark Mousy. The fallen angel's thoughts were set on Maia alone.

Clearly, the angel had started to change for the better good of Azumano-Chou.

_I know this is hard, _Satoshi said persuasively_. Anytime now and she'll start to scream in agony! Krad! Count it as I'm begging you! Fulfill your part of the deal like you've promised me!_

Krad sighed to himself, running his hand through his golden locks. **It's not as simple as you think it could be done, Satoshi!**

_Then do it for me! _Satoshi screamed from within. Krad could feel it too; deep within him, the agony of watching someone you love suffers without being able to help in any way. Worse all, he had to stand by the side and watch her suffer while he begged another to help her.

_Maia…_ he added, his voice breaking into mere whispers. _She's my lover…I can't lose her no matter what…_

**I know, **Krad said**. She's your soul mate. You'll die if she dies. The First Autumn Moon will uphold your vows and promises. **

_**Let's be together forever**__,_ the word echoed in both Satoshi's and Krad's mind. He had taken a vow that he can never back away, and he is glad about it for Maia is his true soul mate. But once one of them dies, the other would shortly follow. To be exact, they would truly be together forever, even in death or in living.

**Likewise, I don't have much of a choice to begin with. It is either I watch her die or you die along with her while I lose my host and disappear forever or I step in and help. **

_Krad…_

The blonde angel finally sighed in defeat. Rubbing his temple, Krad said to Satoshi out loud, "I won't be responsible for anything else afterwards."

_You won't have to, _Satoshi said almost thankfully. _I will thank you for that._

Moving forward in one fluid movement, Krad heaved Maia up with one arm, pushed her into the wall and slammed his lips over hers harshly, kissing her deeply and feeling her immediate submission as her arms slipped around his neck and his back hastily, her tongue boldly enters Krad's mouth and licking at all he is worth. Growling, Krad pulled her thigh up to his waist and heaved her up the wall, hearing her gasp in excitement.

With nimble fingers he never knew he had until now, Krad slipped Maia's gown off her shoulders and the silk dress pooled at her waist. Practically ripping off her bra, Krad felt him submitting to his more animalistic side and dived into Maia's neck, his teeth harshly biting into her collarbone while he closes his eyes at the sound of her delighted moan. Licking his way down to the valley between her breasts, Krad quickly latches onto one of her breast and sucked deeply, her loud moan the only answer he needed to continue.

After sucking for a few moments, he frees his mouth from her breast and stares up at her. Her eyes had glazed over with uncontrolled lust while her cheeks flushed their lovely red. Lips kissed bruised, Krad allowed Maia's hand to touch his face, her fingers feeling like butterfly touches landing uncertainly on his cheeks.

"I have to do this," Krad said huskily, his eyes and voice heavily clouded by lust he never knew he ever had. One hand pressing her hand to his face, Krad continued, "I have to. You'll die if I don't do this."

"I know… I heard everything..." Maia said quickly, her hands leaving his face and gripped his clothes, trying to find the right buttons to free him off his attire. Krad took the hint and pushed up the hem of her long dress to her waist, feeling her smooth thigh unmarred by any wounds. When he reaches the far end of her thigh, he surprised himself with the knowledge that she is wearing no underwear. He growled in response to it.

Freeing himself from his attire, Krad pulled his member out and guided it to her slick entrance. Krad groaned at the contact when his tip touches her delicate entrance. Looking into her eyes clouded with lust, Krad pushed himself into her small body and felt her pulsating around him in an extremely arousing way.

Gripping his golden locks, Krad started to thrust himself into her, starting out slowly and forcing himself to be gentle. When Maia almost growled in response to his slow pace and pulled him to her by his hair, he smirked against her lips and crushed his mouth on hers in a burning kiss, picking up the pace and allowing himself to lose all control.

Soon, Krad felt her muscles clenched down tightly on his member as he experiences her climaxing. Her movements were jerky and almost aggressive, her legs and hands flailing all over the direction, her screams of ecstasy turning him on further as he continued to pound into her while he searched for his own end as well.

Soon after her trembling subsided, Krad carried her towards the bed and dropped her non-too-gently on it, his thrusting stopping only a mere seconds and he continued soon after he propped himself up by his elbows.

Her peach-colored kiss bruised lips opened in a round little 'O' at the amount of pleasure she is experiencing with Krad and the effects of the damned drug. Diving down, Krad connected his mouth to hers and kisses her passionately, slipping his tongue into her more than welcoming mouth and groaned when he tasted her. He had practically forgotten completely how good and addictive it was to kiss someone.

Wrapping one arm around her waist and drawing her closer to him, he continued to move and thrust himself faster and deeper into her, hearing her gasped out a delighted respond.

Maia wrapped her legs and arms around his waist and neck closely; her raspy breath came out in puffs by the side of his ear, delivering the musical moan right into his ear. The feeling of him within her feels just as similar as when Satoshi entered her. The hands that wrapped themselves ever so possessively on her waist are strong, akin to Satoshi's arms as well. Both of them were so similar that for a moment, she thought that it was Satoshi who embraced her.

"Satoshi…" she gasped out, her fingers weaving themselves deeper into Krad's long blonde locks. Blinded by lust and desire, Krad dismisses her calling out her lover's name. But when she continued to call out Satoshi's name, Krad lifted himself up from her neck and rested his whole weight on his elbows, staring into her eyes.

"I am Krad, Maia," Krad whispered hoarsely, temporarily halting his every movement and watches her reaction from above. "I am not Satoshi right now."

Maia opened her eyes blearily and forced herself to focus. The golden hair and the amber gold eyes caught her attention, her eyes widened in surprise. One hand reaching up tentatively to caress Krad's smooth angled cheekbones, Maia watches in wonder at how similar both Satoshi and Krad seemed to look in both appearances and the way they stare at her. It was so full of love and admiration that it brought tears of joy to her eyes.

"You're Krad…" Maia whispered, her eyes staring at Krad's amber gold eyes, a soft smile on her bruised lips. "You're the other part of Satoshi…aren't you…?"

Krad smirked, not being able to conceal the happiness that bubbles up in his being when she acknowledges his presence as the one who is making love to her right at this moment and not Satoshi himself. Closing his eyes briefly, Krad opened his amber gold eyes with renewed vigor and snapped his hips forward with a hard thrust, earning her sudden gasp of pleasure. "This is really not the time for this kind of conversation, Maia." Drawing his member out, Krad thrusts himself back into her again in a long hard shove, her satisfied groan music to his ear while she arched her back to him.

"Ah…Krad…" Maia moaned in seventh heaven, her hand quickly finds Krad's long golden locks and gripped at them, unintentionally pulling out the cross and ribbon that keeps his hair in their ponytail. A golden curtain fell over them, as if to shield them from the world for a moment in each other's arms while Krad continued to pleasure Maia without a care in the world until the drug's effect wears out.


	16. 16: A Love From Two

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait. There's up and down in one's life somewhere and right now is my up and down time. Managing schedules is just hard and now that I finally have a scrap of free time, I'm gonna write and write and write! Haha! Again, I apologize for the long wait. **

******Enjoy and don't forget to review! Thanks!**

* * *

**16 – A Love from Two**

The police force arrives in large trucks, all completely armed from top to toe in gears and guns. Nosy vulture-like reporters arrived soon after behind the police force's trails in order to sniff out good news, their cameras and audio recorders at the ready to film the juicy scoop awaiting them soon after. Surrounding the seemingly-innocent warehouse, the police forces lie in wait while the inspector strode towards the warehouse's large door made entirely out of metal roofing. The entirely place stank with the distrusting smell of dark magic, something that even normal, powerless humans could tell with their normal senses. The smell itself contains unrecognizable disgusting odor, as well as being unpleasantly indescribable. It is not something that even animals would want to smell.

"Everyone move!" Inspector Takashi exclaimed loudly, his furrowed eyebrows taking in the surroundings of the prostitute factory with revulsion, not quite believing that such a repulsive place could exist on such a peaceful island like Azumano-Chou. "I want everyone in this stupid factory caught and stuffed in jail! If they're injured, just pick them up and stuff them in jail. They can get their treatments after interrogations!"

There was a murmur of protest and the noises on one part in the police group died down. Curious, the Inspector turned around and furrowed his brow at the tall dark figure that gradually walks towards him, followed by a good number of black coated men.

The tall dark figure came upon the small Inspector and stared him down, daring him to ask him to move away. When the Inspector places his hands on his hips and jerked his chin towards the other direction and said, "Sorry pal, this place is off limits to outsiders. Now get," he gets no response from the tall man aside from a daring glare.

In a gruff tone, the tall man said to the Inspector, "You get out of my way now, Inspector. I'll crumble anyone who stops me from getting my sweet revenge."

Astounded, the Inspector opens his mouth and exclaimed "What the hel-"

"Inspector Takashi!" Kitsuo shouted from the other side of the yellow tags that prevents civilians from entering the crime scene. The Inspector is surprised at the presence of Satoshi's Assistant, Vice Supreme Commander. After Satoshi, he is the head of the department. He is rarely seen in Azumano-chou's Police Department for he always helps Satoshi to run top secret errands. One thing for sure is that he has the same temper as Satoshi, albeit a little friendlier than the cold young prince. Nobody wants to piss him off.

Running towards the Inspector and the tall figure standing over him, Vice Commander Kitsuo bowed low and spoke politely to the tall figure. "I apologize on his behalf, Kent-san. Please continue as you please. The grounds are open for you."

When the Inspector prepares to protest, Vice Commander Kitsuo grabbed a firm hold of the Inspector's arm and stopped him. Kitsuo smiled at Kent and nod his head once towards the direction of the surrounded warehouse.

With a nod, the large man walked into the warehouse with a sweep of his expensive coat, his large confident stride moving fast towards what appears to be people scrambling to search for an escape route in the warehouse.

"I believe you have some explanation to do now, Vice Commander Kitsuo," Inspector Takashi said unhappily. He can't believe that the Vice Commander would allow outsiders to enter the warehouse in such a nonchalant way. The police and forensics haven't even gotten their chance to enter the grounds, and yet such a guy has passed by with the Vice Commander's permission. This just can't be fair!

Turning towards him, the Inspector is briefly taken aback by the Vice Commander's grave and serious expression. That expression alone was his call to remain silent and keep his comments in his pants. "You don't wanna mess with him now, Inspector Takashi," the Vice Commander said in a grave tone, his eyes wide and cold. "He's not the kind of guy you can just simply piss off."

For a moment, Inspector Takashi is silenced by the gravity of the situation. "Who is he, anyway?"

Kitsuo gave the Inspector a smirk. "He's the head of the largest mafia group in Japan. Not even the police want to mess with him. He is also the very person, who keeps the mafias down, and without his permission, you can't start a mafia group anywhere in Japan, and that includes Azumano-Chou. He is the Mafia's law. He's one hell of a guy, and he's a distant relative of Akihiko Maia."

"Aki- Akihiko Maia!?" the Inspector stuttered in surprise. There's one thing having gone into a relationship with their coldest Ice Prince, the Supreme Commander Hiwatari Satoshi within months of meeting, but having actually related to the scariest Mafia Boss, Kent? This is just too much!

Kitsuo liked the effects of what he had said to the Inspector generated after a while of having the information sinks in. "Yeah, so I suggest you don't ever piss her off. He's here to take revenge on those thugs who dared to touch his precious little ward. Her brother alone is enough to pull a terrifying tornado with just one glance, so her distant all powerful and rich uncles' performance would not be something nice to behold either."

The people who had built this warehouse had the craziest idea to built only two entrance, and that is on the ground, where it is locked tight with thick heavy chains that is only opened when a large amount of drugs and stuff arrived. The other entrance is by the roof, modified and changed into thick impenetrable glass that blocks out the sunlight and only operates with electricity. The front entrance had already been taken over by the large beefy man with the expensive black coat, while the top roof entrance is completely ruined by that white flying being when he escaped with their soon to be new whore. They are practically trapped inside their own grave, and they have nowhere else to run except to submit to the police forces and the Mafia group from the 'other side of the world'.

The large grand door to the 'training center' burst open with a loud and noisy kick. Walking in gracefully and carrying an air of importance around him, the bulky man pulled the dark sunglasses off his face and takes a good look around the place. One glance told anyone who sees him that he did not like what he saw.

"Well hello there boys!" the large beefy man barked in a pleasant way, smiling widely and staring coldly at the sight of naked girls being manhandled by what appears to be 'trainers' and criminals. "It appears to me that you're the boss here, eh, man in a white suit?"

"Who are you!?" the fake Kent barked daringly, not knowing who he is dealing with. "How dare you enter here without my permission? This is a private ground, and scamps like you are not allowed to step foot in here!"

"Scamps, now, am I?" the real Kent said to him in a chuckle. Gesturing towards the exit door, Kent barked in a loud voice that sends echoes in the warehouse. "You are completely surrounded by the good police force out there, and before you are to be cuffed and thrown into jails, I suggest you face me and tell me the truth regarding your latest 'catch' of the season, eh?" Chuckling almost evilly, Kent stopped laughing abruptly and his expression changes into one that is cold and uncaringly cruel. "Where is she?"

The fake Kent ignored the real Kent's words and continues in a high and mighty tone. "Who are you? Who's your boss?! Do you even know who I am?!"

Again, the real Kent's expression shifted back to his laughing self and barked out a laugh of disbelief. "Of course I know who you are, _Kent_. You're the one who tried to be me. You're the one who's running this place and pretended that you're the boss here, going as far as to operate a new prostitution ground and 'training center' for new chicks to be sold to Asia. The real Kent would not break his code of honor, but a street urchin does that. Thanks to you, many of my friends are quite upset and disappointed to see that the new manager of this new prostitute ground is not me, and they want you punished."

"Just who the hell do you think you are, you cheapskate!?" the fake _Kent _continues to exclaim in loud, piggish snorts, one hand still holding onto his scarred face. When he finds her next time, he's going to screw her until she dies. Oh yes, he's going to make her suffer. "Who's your boss!?"

The real Kent sauntered forward and grabbed a fistful of the fake Kent's white coat. With practiced ease, the real Kent held the fake Kent up in the air and watches with delight at how easy it is to make someone wriggle in the air like a rat out of the drain. "No one commands me but my lovely wife and lady boss, Sana, and the second person who can command me with full power right now is my eldest daughter, Saya. The rest is my family, and that includes my long distance baby niece, the girl you just captured and touched with your dirty hands. Now, I don't think you'd stand a chance against me at all."

Kent lets go of the wriggling white mouse and the fake Kent fell down into a pitiful heap. One of his minions came up to him and whimpered at the sight of the real Kent staring down at him. "B-boss!" he stuttered pitifully, his eyes not daring to leave the real Kent's burning eyes.

"What now?" the fake Kent snapped at his underling, who dared to cower against his sleek white suit. "Can't you see that I'm busy, you useless pig?!"

"H-He-he's the real Kent, b-boss!" his underling stuttered fearfully. When the fake Kent saw just how much fear there is in the eyes of his underling, he started to tremble in fear as well. "The real boss in Tokyo! The real Kent! Shiratoe Kent!"

Eyes wide with fear, the fake Kent slowly turns back towards the real Kent and stares up at his murderous eyes. The real Kent leans forward and stares down the fake Kent, a wide crazed grin on his face. "You're in for a deal of a lifetime, boy. I'm gonna give you such torment that you'd wish you're long dead with your friends there…"

The fake Kent looked over towards the direction the real Kent said, and widens his eyes in shock when he saw how his underlings rejected morphine, the drug they used to love so much.

"No! No, no, no, no! I don't want another dream! I don't want another nightmare! Don't let me sleep, officer! Please, don't let me sleep!"

"Sir," a female paramedic said, trying to coax the man to calm down and give him a shot of pain relief. "You are in a great deal of pain judging from the fracture of your thigh bones. I will give you something to make the pain less, alright?"

"No! Don't! I want to be in pain! I don't want to fall asleep-"

"You won't fall asleep with a little dose of pain killers, sir-"

"No! I refuse! I don't- Don't give me pain killers! Let me be in pain! No! Don't give me them! No!"

**SATOSHIXMAIAXSATOSHIXMAIAXSA TOSHIXMAIAXSATOSHIXMAIA**

Both the fallen angel and Maia lie in Satoshi's bed for a long time, awake and taking the pleasure to listen to each other's breath side by side in tranquility.

"Thank you, Krad," Maia said suddenly, breaking the silent with her raspy voice. She had been screaming for hours in pleasure due to Krad's ministration with his hands and mouth and his rather impressive sexual organ, and had been terribly breathless when he finally stopped. "-for doing this. You saved my life. I appreciate and admire you a lot for that."

Krad said nothing for a moment, preferring to run his hand up and down her smooth warm back. He finds that he liked the feeling of his hand on her naked skin, but not as much as he loved the feel of her hair in his hand. "It is not done willingly," he said, and when he felt her tense up beside him, he quickly added, "-at first. The Young Master persuaded me to do this, so you should really thank him instead."

The fallen angel felt her release a breath of relief and slacken beside him. Unintentionally, he let out a small sigh of relief as well. He felt her turning her head up to look at him, and he, too, turned his head down to look into her hypnotizing eyes. They're of such sensual color and shade that he, for the briefest moment, felt that he should just stare into her eyes forever. Lifting his hand, he brushed the back of his fingers across her smooth cheek and said softly, "He's the one who had told me to protect you should something ever happened to him, such as him passing out from blood loss-"

Immediately, Maia's eyes widened in surprise and sat up in alarm.

"Sato-kun's hurt!?" she exclaimed anxiously, her raspy voice now sounding husky. Krad thought that she looked so extremely beautiful when her hair floated back around her, covering her naked skin and leaving many parts for further imaginations open wide. "He's injured?!" she continued, her heart racing at the thought of Satoshi in danger for her. "Where?! When?! How!? Is he alright?!"

Krad sat up and put his hands on Maia's shoulders, noting that her breath came in quick short breaths and her accelerated heartbeat. "Calm down, Maia of the Humans," he said to her, one of his hand raised up to cup her cheek gently, assuring her of Satoshi's condition. "He is fine. I have already healed my host with my power. He is merely sleeping within me. He'll wake up eventually, but until then, I shall be here to protect you in his absence."

He expected her to let out another sigh of relief, but no. She did not do so. Instead, her eyes continued to search in his for her answers, as if what he had told her is not a satisfying answer. He finds such a notion rather strange when all of a sudden, her little arm rose up and held his cheek tenderly in a way that he had never been treated with before, her brows furrowed together in a worried fashion. In a small voice, Maia asked worriedly, "What about you? Are you hurt?"

Stunned, Krad allowed himself time to stare at her. Her eyes, now wide open with worry, glistened with unshed tears. Her lips, now swollen from his many passionate hard kisses, stood out starkly in an almost inviting red against the pale skin of her face. Amongst all of the features of her beautiful visage, he finds that he rather liked to stare into her eyes. The warm brown eyes are such a pleasing sight to behold with his golden ones. However much he tried to deny about it, she truly is a beautiful human. Hell, he felt himself going all weird and warm when he's looking at her, more so when he looked into her eyes, which seemed to hold some sort of captivating power, entrancing him into a stupor he didn't even realize he fell into. Her kind demeanor only serves to emphasize just how wonderful she is in whole.

After a long period of moment, Krad finally gave in to her stares and answered her quietly. "I am not," he sighed. "I'm fine. Thank you for the concern."

Only after Krad had said those words did she let out the relieved sigh that he had been awaiting. Her tears slide out from the warm brown pools and she gave him a warm, relieved smile that made him want to embrace her tightly to himself. He didn't need to do so as both Maia's arms wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him into her embrace instead of his as he had initially thought about. Kissing the side of his temple, Maia whispered softly as she stroked his long golden mane lovingly.

"I'm glad," Maia said softly, her hand stroking Krad's soft golden locks. "I'm glad both of you are okay…"

"Why would you be glad that I'm safe?" Krad asks in confusion.

Most people would want him dead, especially more so with the Niwa family after his many previous attacks on their sole heir, Niwa Daisuke. The thought that someone would be happy of him being alive made him feel curious as to what actually made them feel so.

Maia seems to find his question absurd, and she chuckled a little against him. He feels the pleasant vibrations running from her to him, and he liked it. "Is that not obvious enough, Krad?" she answers him in amusement. "Because I love you too…"

The effect is immediate. With the reflexes akin to lightning, Krad untangles himself from Maia's arms swiftly and held her shoulder, keeping a distance and looking into her eyes from shoulder length, for fear that he might succumb into the charms of her eyes again if he were to stare at them at a close range. Almost angrily, Krad blurted, "You _love_ Satoshi, that's why you're still with him until now."

Before he could voice more, Maia smiles softly and cupped his cheek gently and carefully, giving him a loving smile, seemingly finding what he had said sounded rather silly to a degree to begin with. "You're a part of Satoshi," she said in a matter-of-factly tone, as if she's talking to a little boy. "You're related to him. Not just that, you _live _within him. Without you, he won't be here, and without him, you won't be here as well. Satoshi's you. The same goes for you, him. I love you both all the same, if that's what you're trying to deny, Krad. You're my personal guardian angel whom I shall always love."

He couldn't deny that what she has said to him touched his soul right down to the core. He considers himself as a being that no longer possesses as heart, more so to emotions. To him, they are a rather silly thing to keep around after being alive for so long, cursed to this eternal battle with his other half, Dark Mousy. He stares at her unbelievingly, his golden eyes wide with the new knowledge that someone loves him as equal as she loves Satoshi.

Slowly, Krad moves his hand up and towards her face, afraid of frightening her off. He have never held someone so gently and close apart from Satoshi. That feeling is alien to him, and yet when he saw just how Maia sighs into his touch and gave the palm of his hand a little kiss, a little part of his cold hard soul melted. Leaning forward, Krad slowly and carefully touches her forehead to his, sighing to this alien but peaceful feeling he felt in his body.

It was then a thought hit him. Like a thunder, he jolted against her, surprising the both of them. Maia's expression grew alarmed when she saw just how startled Krad's expression is. Krad puts a reassuring hand on both of her cheek and kisses her forehead, calming her down a little.

"Earlier," Krad started carefully. "Earlier, when I told you that I have to-" Krad paused, but when Krad gestured to both of their naked bodies and the bed, Maia blushes in embarrassment and hides her eyes behind her fringes. "-do this to save you from dying; you told me that you knew what I'm going to do and that you heard everything. What exactly did you mean by that?"

Maia blinked her eyes in confusion, her blush subsiding quickly. "I said I heard everything, yes. I'm sorry if I eavesdropped on your conversation with Sato-kun, but-"

"With Sato-kun?" Krad repeated her words, his eyes frozen in anticipation of the answers from her lips. He would have sputtered if it were a normal conversation at any other time. He had found that the name 'Sato-kun' is a rather silly nickname to behold on the sole heir to the Hikari clan. But he supposed that if the person who gives the nickname is Maia then everything shall be fine. "You said you _heard_ us talking. When?"

Sitting up, Maia dragged the covers and pulled them up to her chest, her eyes focusing on Krad's amber orbs. "Just before you kiss me."

Krad paused for a long while, his eyes never leaving Maia's. "We were talking telepathically," he said finally in a toneless voice.

Another moment of silence. Maia took the time to let the words sink in before she repeats the words, blinking at how absurd it sounded, "Telepathically."

Her lips stretch to a small smile, ready to laugh. But when Krad's expression remains unchanging, Maia's smile dropped and forms a thin line. When the thought finally sinks into her that Telepathic is not an impossible feat, she blinked her eyes in surprise, not sure what to make off regarding her being able to hear telepathic conversations. "Oh," she said slowly, nodding reassuringly. "Telepathically."

"And you said you heard us talking?" Krad raised his eyebrows, wanting to make sure once again if she is telling the truth. Deep down inside, he knew she is telling the truth. She is not exactly the type to lie regarding such things, but then again, he wishes that she would tell him otherwise, or laughs it off and reveals to him that it was just a joke she's pulling on him, trying to make him smile or something. He knew the consequences of having such powers. He knew that she is just a normal girl when she came to Azumano-Chou, albeit a little sensitive and had senses average normal people do not have, but that is just it; a little sensitive, not insanely powerful like right now.

He could just feel her powers flowing off of her in calm waves. It seemed that her powers have sparked and soared high off the roof and into the atmosphere. It is no wonder why the Water King would be attracted to her like moth does to light and fire. She did not know how to keep her magical waves down, let alone controlling them. With just a flick of her emotions, she could summon the strongest beast, and the dangers are that it would stay there with her.

Nobody wants a dangerous strong magical beast in Azumano-Chou.

Maia nodded a few times at Krad's question. "Clear as day…why? Is there something wrong with me able to hear you guys talking?"

Krad pulled himself up from the bed and sat up. "I'm not sure, but one thing for sure is that it's not something that could be ignored…"

Maia's eyes turned their attention from Krad's eyes to his golden blonde hair. They seemed to sparkle under the pale light of the moonlit sky, their deep black color slowly fades away to answer the call of dawn. Unable to resist, Maia reaches up and grasp a lock of his hair in her hand, stroking the soft texture with a sigh. "Is that something bad, Krad?"

"Maia," Krad said, holding her bare shoulders in his hands carefully. "It's not normal to be able to have telepathy powers and such sprouts out of nowhere like a television program. Can't you feel it, Maia? Your powers are monstrous! They're growing even as we speak, and surely you could feel the surge of power running in you, from you and into your surroundings? Surely you could tell why the Water King would be interested in you, surely you could tell why I do not feel like killing you this instance for being the Young Master's most adored and treasured person when I used to eradicate all those whom he held dearest? You _made _me do it. You _made _me keep you alive because of your will alone of wanting to live life to the fullest. You _made _everything happen. Surely you felt something, Maia of the Humans. Tell me, did you then?"

Eyes wide with surprise, Maia places a hand in front of Krad's naked chest and stopped him from saying anything further. Raising a hand into her hair, Maia pushes her hair back from her face and thought back hard, feeling the power surge that Krad told her about. Stuttering a reply, Maia said almost hesitatingly. "I…I…"

"The Water King is an enormously powerful entity in the waters of Azumano-Chou. It isn't just rare that he would surface here to the lands and enters a swimming pool in Azumano High School. He would _never _surface to lands. You've unwittingly summoned him, and he came to you because he felt your call, and no one, not even the Young Master, Dark Mousy or I could summon the Water King to lands. You are the first person to do this in thousands of year's worth of magical history since the coming of this land…"

Maia's expression changed from normal to grave. Krad notices this, and he couldn't stop the words from flowing. He knew she needed to know. "The Young Master told me that the Dreamer drugs is made from an aphrodisiac and modified into something so potent that its effects could last for days," Krad said, revealing her nightmares once again and forces himself to continue even when Maia snapped her head up to look into his eyes at the sound of the drugs, fear in her eyes. Raising a hand, Krad stroked her hair soothingly. "Yours only lasted for a few hours with me while your body and I helped clear away most of the drug's effects and the drug itself. Normal people are not capable of doing that, but you can. Surely, you noticed something."

Maia looked back up into his eyes and stared. "You're saying that I'm a freak?"

Sighing slightly, Krad ran his hands up to her face from her shoulders and held her face gently in his hands. Leaning in, Krad rests his forehead on hers and closes his eyes. "I don't know, Maia. It's not in my place to gauge the answers based from your condition. I am not capable of feeling this as well as my human host does."

_Should something happens to me, _Satoshi said weakly from within Krad, currently resting inside the world of Krad to regenerate the energy he had used to locate and save Maia. _Protect her for me, and I will reward you with a limited amount of freedom. You could go and bug Dark for all I care, but do not hurt others. _

Krad closes his eyes and answered Satoshi; **I** **shall give you my word, young master.** **For her sake, I give you my word.**

"I cannot give you the answer you want, Maia of the Humans," Krad said to Maia softly, pulling her to him while he embraces her tightly. "-but I can assure you that I will not stand by and watch this escalates into something worse…"

Maia wrapped her hands around Krad's muscled torso and sighed to herself. "I just hope that all the troubles would end…that's all…I'm tired of it all…"

Krad chuckled at Maia's answer. Brushing her fringes back, Krad kisses her head and rests his cheek on her hair, indulging himself in this rare moment of freedom and bliss. "Trust us, we are too…"

Just when Maia and Krad starts to doze off in a nice nap, a loud knocking sound on the door jolts them both awake from their almost-nap. The annoying knock sounded frantic, and it doesn't sound like the letterman or some postal-card-boxes-gifts-delivery guy, and certainly, it doesn't sound as if it'll subside soon enough. Krad moans in protest when Maia starts to get up to get the door.

"5 more minutes… or I'll go out and kill someone…" Krad mumbled his protest.

Maia chuckled at the very sight of Krad lazing around on the bed. Satoshi used to do that too, but he usually brought the line of 'I won't bring you to the cake Café…' to sleepily threaten her.

"Somebody's knocking on the door," Maia said to him with a smile on her face. "I have to know who it is."

"Maia!" a man with a deep set of baritone voice called out to her. Continuing to knock even louder, Maia moves forward to the railings on the second floor and listens closely.

"Maia!" the man called again in a frantic tone, and this time, Maia jumps up in surprise.

"Onii-sama!" she exclaims loudly in surprise, her voice echoing throughout the whole of the two apartments shared by Satoshi and Maia. The man appears to have heard her calling, for the knockings turns harder and determined.

"Maia!?" her brother continues to call out to her. "I heard you in there! Open this door right now!"

"Coming!" Maia said loudly, scrambling around to find something decent to wear. "Just let me get my clothes…"

From the other side of the door, the brother bristles angrily. "Clothes!? What are you doing in there!? Are you naked!?"

"Onii-sama! You don't have to scream it out loud for the whole world that your sister is naked with a man here!" Maia said angrily back towards the door, stuffing her hand clumsily into Satoshi's blue sleeve.

Her brother did not cease his loud exclamations. In fact, he grew so angry that he couldn't see anything else other than the fact that there is a man with her. Naked. In her house.

"WHAT!?" her brother bellowed in anger outside her door.

**Young Master,** Krad called into his inner minds. **It is time for you to wake up. There is an urgent matter for you to deal with here.**

Krad felt the last of the Hikari heir stirred from within him and braced himself for his wrath. Satoshi had the knack of making him suffer whenever he is sleepy enough. If he is awake – Krad smiles to himself – if Satoshi is awake, then Krad could overpower his host easily. Not anything when he's sleepy though…

_What is it?_ Satoshi said angrily.

Krad sigh to himself. **It's Maia. Her brother came to visit her and found out there is a man in the house with her and she's naked.**

That was it. Krad felt himself sink back into Satoshi and moments later, he found out that he's back in Satoshi's inner mind.

**That was quick…** Krad thought.

_You had to be an idiot to not stop her from spouting nonsense!_

**Those are not nonsense, my dear Young Master.** Krad answered back, amused with the situation. **Those are the truth and you don't expect to lie to your lover's brother, right?**

_I'll get back at you later! _Satoshi thought to Krad with a dangerous snarl. Satoshi do not snarl often, and when he does, it was with a good reason. Krad rubbed his forehead and cursed. What could Satoshi possibly want? Stop Maia from talking? Now that is just crazy!

"Your brother will scream 'murder' if you were to wear my shirt down and meet him, Maia," Satoshi said, grabbing a pair of pants slinging by the bedside chair and pulled it on quickly. "Wear something of your own."

Maia snapped her head around the moment she heard Satoshi's voice. A smile spreads across her face quickly at the sight of the blue-haired genius. Hopping towards him, Maia landed into Satoshi's open arms, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, Sato-kun!" Maia exclaims happily. "You're finally awake! I'm so worried!"

Satoshi smiles into her neck. "I'm fine now, Maia. How about you?"

Smiling, Maia sighs contentedly in Satoshi's embrace. "I think I'm going to die soon…will you promise to come to my funeral?"

Alarmed, Satoshi extracted her from his embrace and held her at arm's length. "What?"

Raising one eyebrow, Maia inclined her head towards the door. "The fact that I've slept with Krad and that my brother is here…?" She said, reminding him when the knockings ceased. She knew her brother is trying to listen to any conversation going on in the house. Sad to say, the members of the Shiratoe and Akihiko had quite the sharp hearing.

"Maia!" her brother called out again, this time, Maia stood still. Her posture reminds Satoshi of someone being grabbed from their behind in the bus. "I heard a male's voice inside! Grab him and drag him out here!"

Maia turns back and gave Satoshi a look. Satoshi sighed and smiles at her, correcting the collar from its prior askew position and brushes her hair a little with his fingers. "Krad uses my body, so whichever way it was, it is still me you made love to not long ago today."

"Still, I felt like I've cheated on you…" Maia mumbled guiltily, her eyes casted downwards on the floor.

With his fingers, Satoshi gently turns her head back to him and kisses her softly. "I had to thank him for that. I could bear with an affair or two from you with Krad, but I couldn't bear it if you were to die-"

Maia silences Satoshi with a finger on his lips. "Not another word then, Sato-kun."

Prying her hand away from his lips, Satoshi leans in and whispers softly, "Shall we go together then?"

"Maia!" her brother called out again, this time, Maia stood still. Her posture reminds Satoshi of someone being grabbed from their behind in the bus. "I heard a male's voice inside! Grab him and drag him out here!"

Maia turns back and gave Satoshi a look. Satoshi sighed and smiles at her, correcting the collar from its prior askew position and brushes her hair a little with his fingers. "Shall we go together then?"

Satoshi watches as she smiles at him bravely. Clasping her hand in his, they descended down the stairs and went towards the noisy door. Satoshi almost chuckled when he heard Maia swallow audibly. Even her palm sweated a little from nervousness. Giving her hand a squeeze, Maia smiles at him gratefully, knowing that he is giving her courage to pass through this.

Slowly, Maia unlocked the door's lock as quietly as she could and inched open the door. If it was in another situation, Satoshi would have laughed at her expression – her eyes looked so wide and fearful, and the way she opens her mouth in an oh-my-god-I'm-so-dead way would have him rolling on the floor, laughing at her face.

But he didn't.

He wouldn't admit it to her, but he knew that he, too, had started to sweat, and he also noticed that he kept swallowing his saliva. Meeting with her brother would be _the _scariest thing that happens to him in his lifetime. Stories from Maia about her brother are horrifyingly scary, and he didn't want to recount them one by one.

Just when the door slowly inch open, Maia's brother slammed his palm on the door and pushed the door wide open forcefully. Maia squeaked from the expression of her brother.

It was icy, and the man is Akihiko Kira – youngest Director appointed in the prestigious Seiso Academy, a musical and general study school.

"O-Onii-sama!" Maia stuttered, smiling awkwardly at the sight of her brother, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. It was then she caught sight of the long sleeved shirt belonging to Satoshi. Her eyes widens in horror. _Shit!_ She thought inwardly. _I've forgotten to change it, and it's only been minutes since Sato-kun tells me to!_

The man stares at Maia for quite a long while. Suddenly, his icy demeanor transforms immediately into a bright, widely smiling, worried brother.

"Himeko-chan!" Kira exclaims loudly in happiness, wrapping Maia up in his long arms. "Brother misses you sooo much! You were kidnapped, but you're safe! You're safe! Oh, thank the Gods above and Saya's prayers! We love you sooo much!"

It was then Kira proceeds to shower his sister with kisses, swinging her small torso around in his embrace and appearing delighted with her being in his arms.

And it was also then, he notices Satoshi's shirt.

"Himeko-chan," Kira said, having stopped showering Maia with brotherly kisses. He held Maia at arm's length and glared at Maia's attire. "You're wearing a man's shirt, and that shirt is definitely not mine."

"Oh, this?" Maia said while gritting her teeth, pulling the shirt a little away from her body. "It's…well, this shirt is not mine either."

It was his cue to meet her brother. Taking a deep breath, Satoshi squared his shoulder and stepped up. Kira and Maia both turned their head to look at the sudden movement.

Hello Hell.

Releasing Maia carefully, Kira strode up to the stairs and squared his shoulders as well, hoping that by standing tall and straight his impressive height would tower over that insolent-looking blue-haired guy. When Kira finally stood on the same level with Satoshi, he is disappointed that he couldn't beat Satoshi's height at all, as both of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder by height alone.

_Damn it_, Kira thought to himself.

With another glaring gaze, Kira cocked his head towards Satoshi and said icily, "Who is this guy?"

Biting her lips, Maia braces herself for the onslaught of battle from her brother. "Onii-sama," she said carefully, hoping that he wouldn't mind. "He's my boyfriend."

"Why you-" Kira's eyes bulged with the new information. With one finger, he pointed it directly at Satoshi's heart and exclaims loudly, "You slept with my baby sister!"

Before Kira could lounge and before Satoshi could block his incoming attack, Maia had somehow wedged herself in between them and smiles up at her brother, hoping to dispel his anger with her smile. It usually works. "Onii-sama! Wait!"

"You little punk-" Kira said, apparently not fazed by Maia's smile. "You've gotten yourself a death wish, and I'm going to personally slaughter you in cold bloo-"

"Onii-sama!" Maia exclaims loudly, getting her brother's attention.

_Finally_, Maia sigh inwardly.

"Onii-sama," Maia said sternly, as if she is scolding a 5 year old kid. "This is my boyfriend, Hiwatari Satoshi. I love him, and he loves me so much more. The bad guys gave me a little of those stupid aphrodisiac thingy and he helps me to relieve my-" she saw her brother's eyes widens at the word 'aphrodisiac'. "Err… well, you'd say desire."

"But Himeko-chan," Kira started, but was held off when Maia raises one of her hand in front of him.

"No, Nii-sama! You listen to me right now! He saves my life for – oh, I don't know. He always appears to be saving me on a daily basis, and I love him. Nii-sama, please, be kind to him?"

Kira furrowed his brow. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's taken advantage on you-"

With a pair of stern eyes, Maia stares at her brother. "You slept with my calculus tuition teacher."

That struck a nerve. Satoshi looked at Maia incredulously. How could she know that her brother slept with her teacher? Kira is no different. He visibly swallowed and stroked his non-existing moustache.

"Well…" her brother prepares to answer her, but Mai beats him to another one.

"And you slept with my art teacher as well."

Kira gritted his teeth. _Oh dear, this is embarrassing,_ he thought inwardly. "T-that is…"

"That is when you were young?" Maia answered for him with one of her eyebrow raised.

Snapping his fingers together, Kira smiles widely at her. "Exactly!"

"And when you still thought that every girls on the street would want to sleep with you," Maia added.

Kira had almost snapped his fingers once again, but is able to take care not to do so at the last moment. "That is not true!"

"Onii-sama…" Maia said while holding onto her brother's hands. Staring up at him determinedly, Maia continued. "I love him. I truly love him. You're a man; you should go ahead and ask him if his feelings for me are true. Go ahead and have a – what did those people used to call it – ah! A man-to-man talk. Satoshi never lies."

When Kira continues to stare at Satoshi in a murderous way, Maia's mind formulated a plan. Gritting her teeth, she closes her eyes tightly and let herself fall back on the edge of the stairs. The moment she began to fall, both man's eyes widens in shock and thrust out an arm to save her from the fall.

When Maia opens her eyes, she saw that both the faces of Satoshi and Kira loom much closer to her face than ever. Both had one arm around her back, and both manage to pull her back from harm's way.

"Gosh, Maia," Kira said, relieved with Maia being safe. "You never cease to give me a heart attack every now and then!"

Maia smiles brightly. "Satoshi said that same word a few days ago. But he didn't say heart attack. He seems to prefer a good stroke every once in a while."

There was such a fiery stare in both man's eyes. One decided to keep Maia from all other man, while the other resolves to keep Maia by his side. Then, gently, Maia slides her small hand into theirs and gripped their hand, smiling at them while leaning her head onto Satoshi's shoulders.

"Truce to protecting Maia from harm?" Satoshi said questioningly, one handshake offered as a peace sign that he will not harm Maia in any way.

It was a long while before Kira raises his own hand and shakes Satoshi's hand. "Truce to shielding her from harm," her brother said with a slight smile.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Another chappie finished! It's getting closer and closer and closer...to the next chapter! Heheheh! Thanks for reading this... please review~!**


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